


Overlord: Empress

by kellepay000



Series: Overlord: Empress [1]
Category: Overlord - Maruyama Kugane & Related Fandoms
Genre: F/F, Female Protagonist, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:55:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 40,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24973438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kellepay000/pseuds/kellepay000
Summary: Overlord from a female's perspective. Based off of The Journey of the Empress of Death fanfiction by Thunderhead98.
Relationships: Albedo (Overlord - Maruyama Kugane)/Original Character(s)
Series: Overlord: Empress [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1807597
Comments: 6
Kudos: 40





	1. What should have ended, but began.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey so this is my fanservice for myself where I try to fix what I didn't like as well as try and show why this is such a great series, pacing might be a little weird at first, but i'll get the hang of it soon enough.

Chapter 1 - What should have ended, but began.

‘Hmph. The day of the server shutdown and only Touch Me, Peroroncino, Bukubukechabma, Tabula, and Ulbert showed up. How depressing that the others couldn’t. At least they sent an email saying how sorry they were. Hopefully, Herohero keeps true to his promise and stops by.’ thought the robed entity sitting alone in the vast circular meeting room, coined the “Round Table” that sat on the 9th floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick. 

The figure’s user loomed about and looked around the room, thinking back to how she had sent out an email to the other members to come on the last day of the server at their earliest convenience. The room itself was beyond palpable beauty, almost godlike, was very fitting of the enormous circular marble-esque table. Around the table sat forty-one magnificent seats -- that was, if you could call them that. They were closer to thrones of gold with ruby colored satin pillows and accents.

Most of them, however, were empty. Once, they were all filled, but now only two entities remained. One of them was Kazuto Suzuki. She was the secretary for a CEO of a large game designer company, which in truth, just meant she was a huge otaku, and got to her position by the hundreds of hours spent at the company beta-testing the games, helping write the stories for some of the fantasy rpgs, voice acting, and helping code -- which she wasn’t the best at truthfully. Now that she had risen to such a “prestigious level” within the company, she hardly had time anymore to help out the other coworkers like she secretly wanted to. Now she was a glorified errand girl. While she still put in extra hours to help out, she had to handle a huge portion of her boss’s workload. Even still, one huge benefit of the countless hours a week, with little to no vacation time, was an enormous paycheck. A paycheck, where most of it went back into the company, as she was so enveloped into her company’s pride and joy, a MMORPG called Yggdrasil. 

YGGDRASIL is a DMMO-RPG released in 2126 by our company. According to the website: ‘YGGDRASIL was a game of exploration’, and so, many things were mysteries left unknown for players to discover on their own or in groups. It was a game where all you were told was the controls before being thrown into the deep end. In other words, the special thing about YGGDRASIL was the incredible amount of freedom given to players, compared to any other DMMO-RPGs out there.

The most distinctive feature of YGGDRASIL is its flexible system allowing players to freely make choices. Players could select numerous races, jobs, and various tools, allowing for customization in the game. If a player were to use separately sold creator tools, they could freely alter the appearances of weapons, armors, interior data, character visuals, and advanced settings of their in-game residence or home. The customization system was really far-reaching and broad, even allowing basic programming.

The devs of YGGDRASIL made it a point to not provide any information about the game world’s map, and they were also inconsiderate enough not to supply any news about the game’s dungeons and things such as ore mining, food preparation or the raising of magical beasts. In a world like this, one had to investigate and discover things on one’s own. In fact, even the items that one could and could not use could only be felt out through repeated trial and error on the player’s part. There were walkthrough sites and news sites, but those sites only hosted a compilation of publicly known information or very untrustworthy rumors. YGGDRASIL was a game of exploring the unknown. Thus, any information one uncovered would be very valuable. There was no merit in publishing this valuable information for any stranger to view free of charge.

More importantly, YGGDRASIL was the type of game where information itself held value with a great example being the World Item. The number of people who freely shared newly discovered information with others was small and they usually had to pay a price if they wished to know about it. Although a lot of information had already been collected, most of it pertained to dungeons or other locations, and it was estimated that only 30% of the nine worlds had been mapped so far. During the final years of YGGDRASIL, the chances of reliable information being made public on the web was rather high.

There are endless discoveries (special classes, items, etc.) players could find and obtain through adventures, such as focusing on certain skills like instant death spells, etc. with one example being the Caloric Stone, a World Item among one of the hidden items discovered in the game. Besides World Items and skills, there are also apoithakarah, scarletite or other prismatic ores that were of the highest tiers in YGGDRASIL.

Returning to reality, one of the characters present, mine, was called Oiwa-Hannya, the name being a combination of the two demonesses that were popular ghost stories in Japan. She was the guild master of Ainz Ooal Gown, a level 100 undead magic caster, and an elder lich -- which was by lore, what remained when a magic caster who had pursued magic to the extent of human capability had died but the soul refused to pass on. The elder lich was the most elite magic caster in the game: an Overlord. She was wearing a raven-black robe, with royal-purple and golden trim. The over embellished collar, might have been a tad dramatic, but it seemed to suit the wearer. The shoulder pads were ginormous and had red orbs embedded within them. Under the robe the character was wearing fishnet chainmail that hugged her body.

When it came to Equipment in YGGDRASIL, one could equip magic items in the following slots: head, face, body, three pieces of jewelry -- apart from one’s rings which were one on the left and one on the right hand, underclothing, arms, hands, waist, legs and feet. One could not equip multiple magic items to the same item slot. While one could wear many magical items around their neck, only the powers from the item that had been last put on would be usable. 

A player could also manipulate the game's database by using the creator tools to form original items, a common thing within the guild, as most of the guild members were also at one point connected to the company, and as such, took character creation to another level. One could also buy appearances within the DMMO-RPG. Through doing this, a player is able to create an unlimited variety of original items. After a certain patch was updated into the game, players were given several ways to change their equipment’ appearance without changing their gear.

Aside from the robe, which took up a jewelry slot, Oiwa had equipped a limited edition god class armor that was a part of a DLC. The armor was called [Flesh Armor]. It allowed the unique skill [Unliving Flesh], which allowed the user to add a custom character model over the undead character -- that wouldn’t affect race attributes or skills; as well as, allowing the character to put clothing or armor on top of it -- and gave the appearance of being alive. 

I had modified the flesh to look inhumanly pale, almost pearlescent. The character’s eyes were midnight black with crimson, blood-like pupils. The veins were shown around the eye, almost like they were spider veins. The hair of the character was a combination of jet black with a deep red tint meshed into the main color, that was elegantly cut into a messy pixie cut, with bangs that just went below her jaw. She had raptor like nails, that -- if you weren’t careful -- would be overshadowed by the 10 rings that adorned her fingers, each being a legendary ring or higher. This was accomplished due using the power of a Cash Item -- an item a user paid real money for -- which allowed me to have rings on each finger, and bypass the one ring per hand default.

At some point I had also equipped golden cuff bracelets, embedded within them were ruby crystals that gave some resistances and immunities, as well as two golden collars with sapphire crystals in them. At this point I had stared at the NPC in front of me so long, that I almost missed the chime that flashed over the other character’s head. It was a ‘ :/ ‘ emoji.

In the beginning, YGGDRASIL characters had no facial expressions. As a result, a player’s avatar could not change expressions to match their voice. At the same time, a character’s mouth would not move with their words. Because of this, facial expressions were impossible to design, however, it was somewhat possible for a player's expression to change by using their own words. For example, it would not be that difficult for humanoid players. However, it is impossible to do so, since writing macros to move the faces of demi-humans and heteromorphic beings was extremely difficult. Instead, players can use their bodily motions to compensate for the lack of facial expressions in YGGDRASIL. Not only that, but a player can also touch their console to select various faces from one of the emoticons, using it as a way to identify the feeling and mood they have right now.

Realizing what the character was trying to say his microphone turned on. The only way to tell how someone else was feeling was by their tone of voice. Producing a normal voice and minimizing the times one sounded different was not a skill unique to just a single person. When players had been depressed, one would be able to see through how they had forced themselves to appear jovial.

“It’s been a long time, Herohero. Even though it’s the last day, I wasn’t entirely sure you would come.” Oiwa said finally -- also adding a smile emoji for effect -- turning her head to look at the plasmid that sat in a seat. It was an amorphous, black blob that was similar to a coal tar. Due to it being a slime, it’s appearance was constantly changing.

“Hmm, I guess it has been quite a while since I was last on here… Damn, my sense of time is really fucked up, due to the late hours at the office.”

“Sounds rough, but what did you expect from transferring over to the new department?”

“Maintaining some semblance of my sanity? My health is almost completely in tatters, not doctor visit levels just yet, but pretty close. Sometimes I really wish I could run away from it all and disappear. However, I gotta eat, so I’m working my ass off and getting whipped like a slave.” Oiwa suppressed a slight chuckle, remembering that Herohero had a morbid sense of humor, and continued the conversation.

“Yikes.” she replied, leaning back in the chair to exaggerate the retort -- this conversation was kind of killing the mood.

“It’s seriously going to be the death of me. I feel about how my avatar looks.” 

She was already put off, but the following lunatic ranting that followed didn’t ease the mood any. This was all too common with him, so she shifted from active conversation to the listening role as the dam that was holding all his emotions broke. Talking about one’s real life in the game was usually frowned upon, but as most of the guild worked together outside of work, it was bound to happen and none of the members cared. Apart from working together, the guild had only two rules for being a member: The member had to be a functioning adult, and had to play as a grotesque. Since those were the rules, everyday work woes were commonplace, almost an everyday occurrence.

Eventually enough time had passed that Herohero’s ranting calmed enough for him to pause and remember why he was here. “Sorry, didn’t mean to put that on you, but you know how it is, we can’t talk like this at work.”

Alerted, she bowed and replied as sensitively as she could, “It’s fine, you accepted my invitation and came. If I have to be an ear and listen then so be it. It’s the least I can do to repay you for coming.” This seemed to lighten him up, and he chuckled a bit before continuing.

“Really though, thank you. I’m glad I was able to see you again in here and us just talk. It   
sucks that I never see you anymore at work.”

“It makes me glad to hear you say that.”

“But really though, I should be going.” his tentacle of slime moved out into the air and hovered there for a second, showing that he was within his menu. “Yeah, it’s super late, sorry.” I paused for a moment before responding, trying to not let my hurt seep through into the words I was about to have to say.

“Ah, that’s too bad. I guess time really does fly when you’re having fun.”

“I was planning on staying until the end, but I don’t think I’ll make it. I’m surprised you managed to keep this place so active, I kind of didn’t expect it to still be here. Guess you were the right person to have been guild master. Here,” he said, turning over all of his gear, “you can have this, not like I’ll need it anymore.” he said before logging out. It was times like these that Oiwa truly hated, watching her friends leave.

“There is only 10 minutes left, why don’t you stay until the end?” she said to the empty air. ‘Why had almost nobody shown up today? Why had they abandoned the home we built?’ She sighed and slumped a little more into the chair. It wasn’t as if she should have expected them to stay until midnight when the server shut down, but to not show at all stung a bit. Suzuki had sunk countless hours into managing the guild while they all had moved on, trying desperately to keep everything together on the slight chance that they would eventually return. While at our prime, the guild rating sat at number 7, but since they all left we currently dropped down to 13. After a moment, she decided that she should end my time in the throne room, the pinnacle of our success and the shining example of all the time that we had put into the game. She rose from the chair and turned to leave, but stopped for a second.

“I wonder what you all would say if I took this with me. Even after all the hard work we put into this, we never actually used it. No one comes into this room anyway, so I doubt that anyone will care.” she said, looking at the staff that floated in front of her. The staff of Ainz Ooal Gown, our guild weapon.

Being the guild weapon as it is, the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown was designed with supreme quality while taking on the name of the respective guild. It is a powerful item that was said to be the symbol of Ainz Ooal Gown. A guild master like myself would usually carry this staff as a symbol of their guild's might and power; however, the destruction of the guild weapon signifies the dissolution of the guild. That was why the staff was secretly stored here, in the most secure location with their powerful abilities never seeing the light of day. For such a reason, the staff was never used despite it being custom-made, and instead was adorned on a wall in the heart of the Great Tomb of Nazarick.

Moreover, the guild members of Ainz Ooal Gown had managed to work together in order to craft this symbolic weapon that stands for their guild. Collaboratively, this was done through a type of joint project that took many years and sacrifices away from our day-to-day lifestyle in exchange for them to even make at last. It took us an enormous amount of time hunting down monsters to acquire those jewels. As a result of my guild's collective teamwork, the weapon itself was strongly made out of a series of various powerful artifacts imbued with magical spells for its wielder to use and activate. These artifacts were in fact each collected and won by the guild members, so as to complete the creation of our masterpiece which is the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown.

Finally coming to the decision that she would go out in style, like the boss of a dungeon sitting atop a royal throne, she walked over to it. Oiwa reached out and the staff hovered over to my hand. Once in her hand the golden staff’s orbs on the top, seated within the snake’s mouths let out a shimmering, dark purple miasma that seemed to have anguished faces within it. They would form, warp, and dissipate, seemingly so real one could almost hear their tortured cries. Each orb was representative of an element: Fire, Earth, Water, Air, Light, and Darkness. It was truly the culmination of the best parts of the guild. Or should she say, her guild.

From there, she left the Round Table room and headed towards the throne room. Walking throughout the rooms and hallways, she noticed how majestic and ornate everything was, reminding her of Neuschwanstein Castle, with its chandeliers and polished floors. Was there a better word for the place than devine? In one of the many hallways, approaching was a NPC, a combat maid, that one of her friends had made. She was completely gorgeous, almost godlike. 

While appearing modest at first, when looking closer you could tell the ample hours put into her maid outfit, with it’s jarringly aweing embroidery, as well as, the body. She was only five five, with golden locks that were shoulder length currently, but Oiwa had the sneaking suspicion that if you were to straighten out the coils that her hair would fall easily to her waist. Even knowing the NPC’s creator, who was a graphic designer in real life, it was still stunning seeing something so lifelike. Herohero had also worked on the AI, making this another one of the guilds projects. After the distance between the two of them closed, the maid bowed deeply before her. Feeling out of place, Oiwa waved her hand and the maid rose. Knowing that the NPC was basically a walking mannequin, Oiwa felt no shame and stared at the character. 

“Follow.” Oiwa commanded finally and started on the final stretch to the room. The maid did. When it came to players, functions existed (Forced System Access, Chat, Call GM, Log Out, and so on) that was used in the game. For example, using the shout command or a GM call would put the player in touch with a GM almost immediately, and shows how effective the functions were. Another example is the chat channel, where players can look up recent news, like the shutdown of YGGDRASIL. In addition, players can open a system console and connect to the developers’ website to inspect the official guild rankings. They could also issue commands to NPC’s. 

Upon reaching the tenth floor, the bottom floor of The Great Tomb of Nazarik, she approached the throne room doors, Oiwa paused and looked up at the grand doors that stood before her. The left door was of an angle and the right of a demon. Supposing that an invader could reach this far -- which, sadly, none ever did; not even the Union of Eight Guilds -- The Throne was an area designed to welcome invaders who managed to penetrate the defense of the dungeon. This was where guild members assemble for the final showdown. The guild had wanted this throne room to be comparable to the final level that someone would enter to face the final boss, like in an anime. Oiwas pushed open the doors and entered. 

The room itself is an exquisite piece of work. A wide, high room, enough for several hundred people, with a high ceiling and surrounding walls that were predominantly white, with golden decorations as highlights. Hanging from the ceiling were numerous chandeliers made of precious stones of all colors of the rainbow, and emitted a fantastic, dreamlike radiance. Numerous flags emblazoned with different symbols, each for one of the Supreme Beings, hung from flagpoles embedded into the walls. In the center of this room that was tinted gold and silver, was a flight of stairs about 10 steps high. Atop these stairs was a gigantic throne, carved out of a single piece of crystal, whose back was high enough to touch the ceiling above it. A huge red banner hung down behind it, proudly displaying the symbol of the guild. 

Along the left side of the black tile on the floor that led the way to the throne, were the Pleiades. The unit was programmed to be sisters, with the exception of an older, white haired gentleman butler. While the members of the Pleiades refer to each other as sisters, they are not legitimate sisters. They are simply programmed to act that way around one another. Each one of them was made by a separate member of the guild. The Pleiades were the last line of defense against invaders in the Great Tomb of Nazarick. Their job was to buy time until the 41 guild members of Ainz Ooal Gown could prepare for the final battle in the Throne Room. All of the core members were women of unsurpassed beauty, each with a different type of appeal to them.  
When Oiwa eventually made her way to the throne, with the Pleiades in tow, she sat down. She halted them next to the stairs leading up. She couldn’t remember any of the names of these precious characters her friends had created and that irritated her. She brought up her console and opened up the member’s only guild page and checked the box that allowed her to see the names of friendlies. 

“So that’s what you’re called.” She smiled at no one in particular. It was a pained smile, partly due to her remembering her fellow guild members arguing over the names. The ages from oldest to youngest siblings are ranked accordingly about the Pleiades: Yuri Alpha, Lupusregina Beta, Narberal Gamma and Solution Epsilon, CZ2128 Delta and Entoma Vasilissa Zeta, Aureole Omega. The butler’s name was Sebas Tian. She remembered then that the Pleiades can be organised in two different formations. These formations can be switched by changing the leader to Sebas Tian or Aureole Omega. Also, depending on who the leader is, they are called the Pleiades Six Stars or the Pleiades Seven Sisters respectively. 

Next, her attention turned to the figure beside the throne. The demoness is the Overseer of the Guardians of the Great Tomb of Nazarick. She is in charge of the general management and supervises the activities of the seven Floor Guardians, meaning that she ranks above the other NPC’s in Nazarick. She is the middle sister of the older sister Nigredo and younger sister Rubedo. Along with her sisters, she was created by Tabula Smaragdina. Her name was Albedo.

She was an impeccable beauty, a woman with lustrous jet-black hair that reached her waist and the face of a goddess. She had golden irises and vertically split pupils; on her left and right temples are two thick horns protruding crookedly like a ram’s, and on her waist are a pair of black angel wings. Albedo wore a pure snow-white dress that fit her perfectly and showed off her amazing curves with silky gloves covering her slender hands and a golden spiderweb necklace that covers her shoulders and chest.  
Oiwa definitely hadn’t forgotten about her. How could she? Just being near her, made Oiwa’s heart skip a beat. Looking her over, Oiwa noticed the wand-like object that she held in her hand. With a little bit of bitterness in her heart, she realized that Albedo had a World Item. Ainz Ooal Gown had eleven World Items, the most of anyone on the server. The next biggest collection of World Items was three. Justifying it to herself, that was why Oiwa had felt the way she did, because a NPC wasn’t deserving to have something so rare in her possession. 

Oiwa opened up her console and entered Albedo’s information tab to access her lore sheet. It was the length of an epic poem. Skimming through it, Oiwa eventually paused on the last note. ‘By the way; she’s a bitch.’ Oiwa was completely gobsmacked. She didn’t know what to say. She just stared at it wondering what Tablula was thinking. She wondered what Tablula would think if she were to edit the page. Coming to the consensus with herself she entered Administrator mode and deleted the last line replacing it with ‘and she’s in love with Oiwa.” This is so embarrassing, she thought, putting her face into her hand. She confirmed the change and exited the menu. Next she decided to have the characters stay where they were by issuing the command “Genuflect”. They all prostrated themselves before their exalted one, taking a knee and bowing.

She sat back, leaning into the throne, and looked at the clock in the top corner of her eyesight. 23:55:43. She had made it just in time. Next she looked out to the room, observing all of the flags around the room, going to each of them and saying aloud the names of each of the members. Her throat hitched on the last one. ‘Yeah, we had fun…’ Anxiety bubbled in the pit of her stomach, this place represented years of her making memories with her friends and she was about to lose it all. How miserable, how horrible. She had to be up by 4 tomorrow mourning, so if she didn’t go straight to sleep after the server shut down, she’d never hear the end of it for her personal time affecting her work. She checked the clock again.

23:59:57

She closed her eyes.

23:59:58

She held her breath.

23:59:59

She let one tear fall.

00:00:00

She breathed out.

00:00:01

00:00:02

00:00:03

It was definitely after midnight, why was the server still up? Oiwa opened her eyes, and her breath hitched again. She was still in the game. Not back in her room.

“Did they move the time back or is this a glitch?” she thought aloud as she raised her hand to bring up the menu. Nothing happened. Feeling uneasy she tried to use some of the other commands, Force Access, GM call, Force quit. Nothing was working. Where she should have been terrified, she was surprisingly calm. 

“What the hell is going on?!” She exclaimed, her voice carrying in the room and eventually disappearing. Where there shouldn’t have been a response, there was.

“My Lady, is something wrong?” came a beautiful voice from her side that she had never heard before. Startled she turned her head slowly, like in a horror movie, only to see that the NPC Albedo -- who was still kneeling -- was looking at her with extreme worry plastered on her face.

“What is happening, What is this, player created NPC’s are most certainly not suppose to move on their own!” She chirped excitedly, still staring at Albedo. Despite her shock and surprise, her face didn’t move, having been set to show the minimal amount of emotion possible. The only thing that the NPC must have seen was a half asleep, bored look that was custom set as a default expression on the Avatar’s face. Could this be the new YGGDRASIL II? Had the GM’s messed up shutting down the server?

“Lady Oiwa, please tell me what’s wrong and I shall fix it immediately!” Albedo rose from her position and rushed over to the front of the throne, taking the lack of a response as displeasure. When Albedo was stopped, right in front of her, her large H cups bounced, making Oiwa flush internally, until something killed that emotion. 

“I’m alright, thank y-- it’s nothing.” She said, not sure how to address a talking mannequin. She was unsure how to proceed, as Albedo seemed so earth breakingly realistic. Albedo repeated her question, and continued to invade Oiwa’s personal bubble. When she was almost within kissing range, Oiwa smelled a sweet fragrance emanating off of her. ‘Smelled? There was no such thing in a video game. This startled Oiwa, and tilted her head, picking up on something being wrong.

“The -- GM call function isn’t working.” Oiwa finally said, being swallowed up by her mesmerizing face, consulting her. Fighting the urge to be lost in thought, she shook her head. Now wasn’t the time.

“Forgive me. I fear I’m too ignorant and unable to answer the question of this ‘GM call’ you speak of. Nothing would make me happier than to be able to clear myself of failing your expectations. Your wish is my command.” ‘Are we having a conversation? Impossible, this cannot be happening.’ While it was true that NPC could respond to human commands, they shouldn’t be able to speak back. Was Albedo special?

Oiwa motioned for Albedo to step back, and as she did, Oiwa noticed a slight flicker of reluctance as she did. Oiwa turned her attention to the maids who were still bowing. She called out to them and they rose in one slick motion, almost as if it had been rehearsed a hundred times. Oiwa ordered them to the foot of the stairs. They said yes, then took a couple of steps forward and then sank back down to their knees. Through this Oiwa was able to ascertain two pieces of knowledge: first, by not using the normal commands they could still understand, and second, that they had the ability to talk, as Albedo had.

As she was reflecting on this knowledge, she had a gut feeling that something was off about herself and Albedo. Wanting to understand she continued to scrutinize Albedo.

“Is everything alright? Have I done something to upset you?”

“Agh!” She recognized the root of the incongruity, a sound had escaped her lips. It was that changing expressions. Her lips were moving, and she could hear her words. Flustered, she brought her fingers to her own lips, and spoke. “I’m… positive.” ‘My jaw is moving…’ this went against all game logic. She wanted to scream. To his growing expectation this sensation faded away. Oiwa pounded the arm of the throne.

“What should I do? What would make the most sense in this situation?” She was in an incomprehensible situation, but exploding wouldn’t get her anywhere. Right now, she needed information. “Sebas!”

The expression on his face, as he rose up, was one of earnestness incarnate. He looked truly alive. “Leave the tomb, and confirm our surroundings. If there are any intelligent life-forms, negotiate to bring them here on amicable terms. Give them whatever they request in return. Avoid combat to any extent possible.”

“Understood, Lady Oiwa. I will leave without delay.” Oiwa knew that this shouldn’t have been possible within the game, but she watched as he rose and turned to leave. She added to take a member of the Pleiades with him, and if something were to happen to him, send the maid back to report for him. She had no clue what was about to happen, but at least it set some sort of plan into motion. It was a start. Next, she let go of the Staff she had in her hand and waited for the clang. That didn’t happen. What did happen, was that it floated, ignoring all laws of physics.

“Pleiades, all of you -- minus the one going with Sebas -- will go the 9th floor and be on lookout for raiders while they are gone.”

“Yes, Lady Oiwa.” the maids complied in unison behind Sebas.

“Now go.” With that, they paid their respects, rose, and set off. The door opened then closed a moment later. Still trying to wrap her head around what was going on, she was shocked for what came next.

“Now then. What may I do for you?” Came a gentle voice that ebbed love and lust. Oiwa wondered if that was typical for a succubus, or if Tablulua had set it that way, either way, it set her mind at ease to listen to it. 

“Oh? Right… hmm… why don’t you come closer?” Oiwa stated, realizing that her voice and facial expressions didn’t show the nervousness that was starting to envelope her.

“Yes, of course!” Shrieked Albedo, oozing enthusiasm, as she zoomed over to his side. When she stopped just in front of her, her breasts bounced again. She was closer than last time, all but clinging to him. Oiwa took in her scent again, and was immediately lost in the concept of trying to ascertain how this was possible to be able to smell her. Pushing the thought out of her mind Oiwa made up her mind to test her hypothesis. She reached out and laid her hand on Albedo’s.

“Ngh.” ‘Hmm?’ The look on the succubus’ face was one of pain, and so Oiwas instinctively whipped her hand off, as she tried to figure out what was wrong. ‘I wonder what’s wrong? Did I do something I shouldn’t have?’ a multitude of possibilities went through her head, but then she haphazardly stumbled upon the answer.

“Ooh.” One of the special abilities that an Elder Lich had was called Negative Touch. It was a passive ability that allowed the user to cast an aura around oneself that would deal damage by touch. The reason this wasn’t the first thing to pop into her head was that in YGGDRASIL friendly fire was turned off within a guild’s base. ‘Did this mean that friendly fire was turned on?’ It was a distinct possibility. One that Oiwa would have to be weary of. 

“Sorry Albedo, I forgot to turn Negative Touch off.”

“Never you mind, that level of damage couldn’t even be considered damage. Besides, I would suffer any damage if it was from you -- eek!”

“I see. However, I’m still sorry.” Oiwa stated, not sure how to respond to that cute shriek as she started to blush and then quickly covered her mouth with her hands. Averting her eyes from Albedo, who was carrying on about a virgin’s pain, she tried to think about how to turn off a passive ability.

“Albedo. I’m going to touch you.” Oiwa said, having a gut feeling, that she would just need to think about it and it would turn off.

“Oh!” Albedo said sweetly, holding out her hand up for her. Oiwa reached out and touched her hand again. As Oiwa wrapped her undead hand around Albedo’s, she could feel the smooth, soft skin, her body heat, and her pulse. She was really alive, it seemed. She had one last test.

“Albedo. Can I touch your chest?” 

“Huh?”

‘You dumbass.’ The atmosphere around them froze. Albedo blinked, bewildered. The moment those words had come out of Oiwa’s mouth, she felt like she would spontaneously combust from embarrassment. She forced herself to regain her composure and then tried to carry on.

“You don’t mind, do you?”

“Of course not, Lady Oiwa, do to me what you want!” Beamed Albedo, as if she were the sun making flowers bloom, and puffed out her chest, thrusting her breasts into Oiwa’s face. Trying to play it off as something that school kids did when figuring out their bodies in the locker rooms, she reached out. The first thing she noticed was a slight lump in the palm of her hand, but under that something so soft. It’s just a breast, and it’s just a test, she said trying to remain calm. This was the concrete proof she needed: this wasn’t a game. In YGGDRASIL anything rated R wasn’t allowed. This being due to the rating and the laws that were in place. Finally, after an uncomfortable amount of time, he let his hand fall limply from Albedo’s chest. Oiwa felt she’d been groping her for a bit longer than necessary.

“Sorry Albedo.”

“Ahhh!” She exhaled hotly, now Oiwa knew why Albedo’s cheeks had turned so red earlier. The next part caught her off guard. Albedo said, looking slightly askance, “So here it is, my first time.”

“Huh?” Oiwa let out a confused noise. After a moment, she started to realise what Albedo meant.

“What shall I do with my clothes? Do you want me to take them off or do you wish to? If I keep them on, um, they might get dirty… Oh, but if my lord prefers it that way, I have no objections!” Albedo shrieked, hungrily as she stalked closer to Oiwa.

“Umm, that is not a normal reaction to this.” Oiwa coughed out, starting to feel a little afraid. ‘Why is she acting like this?!’ Wait, ‘and she’s in love with Oiwa’, popped into her head. Oh… that’s why. Oiwa coughed then trying to clear voice, as well as other things, and readjusted in the seat. “Now is not the time for such things.”

“My deepest apologies Lady Oiwa. Please forgive me for putting passion before solving this emergency!” She jumped away and began to prostrate herself before her exalted one, but was stopped by a raised hand.

“You’re fine. It’s mostly my fault. You’re forgiven… However, I do have orders for you.”

“Anything you wish, my Lady.”

“Contact the floor guardians and have them gather on the 6th floor -- minus Gargantua and Victim -- within the hour, and have them meet me at the Amphitheatrum. I will let Aura and Mare know myself, so there is no need to contact them.” Oiwa said flatly.

“As you wish, my Lady.” Albedo said before bowing and turning to leave the throne room.


	2. Chapter 2: Reunion for the First Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oiwa meets the Floor Guardians.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yikes, this took a minute. Hope you like it. Still trying to flush out how long these should be, but this should be enough to hold you over until I figure it out.

Chapter 2 - Reunion for the First Time

“That should do for now, I suppose.” Oiwa said aloud -- mostly to herself -- as the last of the ultra-rare ore golems returned to its previous position. The first thing that Oiwa had done upon resigning herself to the possibility that she might have been transported to a new world was to take the appropriate steps to ensure her safety as best she could. She figured that even though the NPC characters she’d met earlier seemed to be loyal to her, there was no guarantee that the next ones she encountered would as well -- hence her going around the Tomb and ordering the golems to not take commands from any of the others, thus quelling any chance of a rebellion… she hoped.

Oiwa then looked down at her rings, and stared at the biggest one on her left hand ring finger. The ring of her guild, Ainz Ooal Gown, a ring that was -- for the most part pretty basic -- but was nonetheless a ring that every member had. It was pretty flashy, comparable to a high school graduation ring that was a gold band with a ruby in the center that displayed the guild’s banner. It allowed for members of the guild to move about the Tomb’s levels easily by teleporting. The Tomb blocked teleportation magic, minus the designated areas, so the ring was the best way to travel and avoid having to navigate the seemingly endless mazes of corridors. 

It was also common knowledge within the guild’s members that without the ring there was no way to get to the treasury, so she wouldn’t be caught without it. Still having not tried it out of fear of what could happen, Oiwa resigned herself to using it. She envisioned where she wanted to go, and as if she had blinked, the world went dark for a second then the view in front of her changed. She exhaled deeply. It had worked. Now she was in a darkly lit passageway that was illuminated by torchlight. The end was blocked by a steel barred gate.

She set off down the broad, high-ceilinged passage toward the gate. Shadows danced all around her, making it seem as if there was more than just her walking towards the gate. As she neared the gate, her nostrils were assaulted by a smell. The smell of a deep forest. This was the second time, since Albedo, that Oiwa had smelled, solidifying the idea that she might not be in the game anymore and this was reality. ‘But as a skeleton in a flesh suit, how am I breathing? Do I even have organs? What would happen if I took off the flesh suit?’ While this would have panicked Suzuki, Oiwa was unfazed, and abandoned the idea. She’d have time for that later.

Drawing ever closer to the gate, the bars raised from the floor and disappeared into the domed ceiling like an automatic door at a service station. Passing beneath the opening she stepped onto the field of the Amphitheatre. In this colosseum known as Amphitheater, the intruders would be the stars of the show. The ones who will be watching their battles from the VIP box consisted of Golems and the members of Ainz Ooal Gown. The main event, of course, would be a brutal melee. Apart from the 1500-man invasion of Players and NPCs, every single invader met their end here. The Colosseum was oval in shape, 180 meters on its long axis and 150 meters on the short axis. It was 40 meters tall and modeled after the arenas of the Roman Empire.

Continuing on into the center of the arena, Oiwa looked up at the ceiling. Even though this was the 6th level of the Tomb, a night sky lit up the surrounding area. What once was a ton of code that was added to show a shockingly realistic sky, Oiwa passed off as most likely being magic now. She wished she could just stay there and relax under the sky, but the situation at hand wouldn’t allow that. ‘They’re not here? The twins created by Bukubukuchagama should be managing this place, but…’ Then she felt she was being watched, another one of her passive abilities [Foresight]. She looked up in time to hear a shout, then to watch a small figure jump down from the six story high VIP box. The figure flipped once in the air, then landed softly on the ground. This, Oiwa knew, wasn’t due to magic, but to the NPC’s amazing physical ability. Having absorbed the full shock of the landing, just by bending it’s legs, the figure stood up and flashed a bright, radiant smile while making double peace signs before running up.

Aura Bella Fiora, the NPC, seemed a tomboy-ish looking child with dark, caramel colored skin and pointed ears, a signature trait of the dark elves. She has golden hair and heterochromia eyes, with her left eye being blue and right eye green. She wore reddish-black dragon scale leather covered by a white and gold vest embroidered with the sigil of Ainz Ooal Gown. Below it, she has a matching set of white trousers and gold plated shoes, and around her neck is an acorn necklace emitting golden light. Her uniform almost gave the appearance of a school uniform, minus the leather gloves she had adorned, that had metal plates on the back of the palms. She was equipped with multiple whips around her waist and a giant, decorated bow on her back.

“Oh, it’s Aura.” Oiwa remembered that Aura was a beast tamer, as well as a ranger, making her capable of controlling magic beasts and a master of guerrilla warfare. She came running at her with short steps that were jarringly fast, like a wild beast flat out running in fear of its life. She was close enough for a conversation within an instant, and stopped so fast that a cloud of dust shot out and rose around them. It appeared to Oiwa that this was calculated as not a speck of dust got onto herself.

“Welcome, Lady Oiwa, to the floor I guard.” She sang in that child-like vibrato that only children have. Compared to Sebas and Albedo she was more familiar in her how she addressed Oiwa, which was a relief as she was new to all of this and being overly revered put her on edge. Her skill [Sense Enemy] didn’t go off, so Oiwa’s plan of using full force so subdue Aura wasn’t necessary. Aura beamed at her. 

“Thank you, I thought I would come bother you for a bit.” The Empress stated, watching the young girl’s reaction.

“What are you talking about? You are the ruler of the Great Tomb of Nazarick! No one would ever feel bothered to receive a visit from you!” Stated the child almost matter of factly, her voice seeping sincerity.

“Oh? That is good to hear. By the way, I see that you are here, but…” 

And as if on cue, Aura spun on her heels and faced the VIP box again shouting, “Hurry up! Lady Oiwa’s here! You are being so rude!” In response to that, Oiwa saw something fidgeting up from the spot that Aura had jumped from.

“Ah, so Mare is up there.”

“Yes, he is, Lady Oiwa. And he’s being such a wimp, get down here!” Aura screeched. 

“I-I… can’t sis, there’s n-no way.” Came a tiny voice. It was a wonder how they had heard it from the distance between them and the box, but Oiwa remembered that it was due to the magic necklace Aura had.

Aura let out an exasperated sigh, then turned to Oiwa. “Lady Oiwa, he’s a bit of a coward. He’s not being rude on purpose.”

“Of course, Aura dearest, I never thought for a moment that that was the case.” Oiwa nodded, trying to put the girl at ease. This seemed to have done the trick until her face flashed angry and she turned back towards the box. “Our Empress has graced us with her presence, and you can't even be bothered to come meet her?! That’s the worst! If you don’t muster the courage to come down here alone, we’ll try it with my foot up your butt!”

“Nnn…” Uttered the voice, coiling back in fear. “I-I’ll take the stairs. It’ll only take a minute.” came the timid response from Mare, still barely looking over the edge.

“You mean you plan on taking even longer?!” Aura seethed, “Get down here now!”

“Aah!F-fine… here goes!” it was a pretty pathetic shout for someone trying to hype themselves up, but it seemed to do the trick, and the child came barreling over the edge. The difference between the two siblings was very acutely night and day; however, Oiwa was impressed with the fact that Mare didn’t seem to have taken any damage upon landing, even though it lacked the fineness of Aura’s escapade. When he finished landing, he rose, fixed his shirt, and sprinted over to the waiting individuals. While it appeared he was giving it all, one could tell that he was hopelessly outclassed by Aura. 

Aura must have been thinking the same because her brow began to twitch in frustration as she let out another belt. “We’re falling asleep over here! Hurry up!” her shrill voice rang throughout the area.

“I-I-I am!” the child countered as he finally made his way up to them. Aura and Mare were twins and had most of the same features physically, the only difference being the hair. Mare had a woman’s bob, while Aura had chin-length shaggy hair that looked unkempt. To Oiwa, even though they were twins, they couldn’t have been anything other than polar opposites. Aura was the sun, burning with passion and a fire in her heart, as reflected in her red leather cover, and Mare was the moon, timid and fragil, in coordination with his blue cover. Now that she thought of it, it was more Indigo than blue. He trembled, looking as if he expected to be berated at any moment. Oiwa was surprised by the both of them.

The Aura and Mare he knew weren’t like this. Of course it would be hard to give NPC’s personalities as they were just 1’s and 0’s, but this must have been what BubblingTeapot, the guild member who had written their lore, wanted them to be like. She wished she could show them to her now. 

“S-Sorry to keep you waiting, Lady Oiwa.” The response had pulled her from her thoughts, and she realized that she had been standing there, staring down at the both of them silently for a moment. Oiwa looked at Mare. Most of him was so close to Aura that it was almost uncanny. The only real difference -- aside from the hair -- was from the waist down. 

Now that she could get a better look at him, she noticed that he was wearing a very short skirt that let a little of his thigh show. ‘A little’, as it turned out, was due to his white stockings instead of pants like Aura had on. His necklace was also silver, as opposed to Aura’s. He also had on silver, white silk gloves that gave off a slight sheen. He was carrying a staff. That and he had on a tiny forest green cloak.Mare Bello Fiore was the sibling to Aura and the other Floor Guardian of the Great Tomb of Nazarick made by Bukubukuchagama. He is a druid caster, which is why he was weilding a twisted, black wooden staff.

Oiwa smiled at them, and in response Aura puffed out her chest, while Mare seemed to tremble even more under her gaze. Satisfied with the work of their creator’s, Oiwa nodded to herself before proceeding. “More than anything I’m just glad to see you both in good spirits.”

“Yeah! We’re great! Just a little bored I guess, it would be nice if we encountered some raiders or something.”

“I d-don’t want that… raiders are s-scary.”

These words completely wiped the gleam from Aura’s face. She turned to face her brother slightly. “Excuse us for a moment, Lady Oiwa. Mare. Come with me.”

Oiwa, slightly caught off guard by Aura’s rapidly changing personality, nodded. Aura sighed, then proceeded to walk a short distance off dragging Mare behind her by his pointy ears. “Owww… A-Aura, that hurts!” Squeaked Mare. This must have been the straw that broke the camel’s back, because a flurry of hisses escaped Aura’s mouth so fast that Oiwa had no chance of trying to keep up. She did gather, however, that Mare was getting a scolding that would be hard to recover from. ‘I think I’m with Mare on this one though, I’d like to at least get my feet on the ground before we get raided.’ Oiwa continued to watch the scene unfolding before her.

The next thing she knew, Mare was on his knees, looking up at his older sister. The scene reminded her of a long time ago. Mare, Oiwa knew, was created to be the brother of Aura by his creator Bukubukuchagama. The reason why Mare is so submissive to Aura stems from how his creator wanted that sibling-type relationship to be; stemming from how she apparently believed that the younger brother should obey the elder sister, it was Mare's duty to listen and heed the words of Aura. Oiwa thought that this must have been a gag between Peroroncino and Bukubukuchagama.

While Oiwa was reflecting on the past, she continued to watch on, eventually feeling sorry for the poor brother. ‘Surely no one deserves this much scolding?’ Back when it had been the sisters fighting, Oiwa had sat back and watched, but this was different in her eyes. “Why don’t we leave it at that?”

“But Lady Oiwa! Mare isn’t doing his duties a Floor Guar-”

“More importantly: Aura, you said you were bored?”

“Ah, well, no, I mean…” From Aura’s backpedaling, Oiwa gathered that her phrasing wasn’t the best. “There is no one around here strong enough to train with I guess?” This made instant sense to Oiwa, as, of course, a Guardian was level 100.

“What about sparring with your brother?” To this response, and to Oiwa’s surprise, Mare somehow managed to shrink into himself even more, now almost curled up like an infant. His eyes glistened and he rapidly shook his head no. He was truly terrified.

“No? Well then. Aura, I’m currently testing some things out and would like your cooperation. Do you mind?” At first, they looked like they didn’t know how to respond, then by turning to each other for approval, they turned back and smiled, nodding in approval. “Good. But, before that, I’ll need this.”

Oiwa reached out into the void and focused on an object. As if space had torn, a dark void opened, and from it Oiwa retrieved the staff. ‘Good, at least that worked.’ Oiwa then proceeded to imagine a creature in her head that would have been a summonable in the game. ‘Summon Moon Wolf’ The staff’s orb lit up and about 8 meters in front of the group a mist formed. After a short second, the mist parted and a Moon Wolf strolled out. Once the mist was gone, Oiwa turned and looked at Aura.

“Moon Wolves?” Aura asked, her voice being split by two overwhelming emotions: hurt and confusion. 

“I’m sure you know that, as I’m an undead, psychic abilities have no affect on me. But I’m wondering if your passive abilities as a beast tamer will affect a summon. So I would like you to test them out. Also, please include me in the range of the ability.” Aura looked scared, but not being able to defy her Empress, she let out another huge sigh. When she did, a gas seeped out of her mouth and filled the area around them. The point of the test was mostly so Oiwa could see if she would be affected by the ability, but pawned it off as wanting to if the summon would be affected. The Moon Wolf began to cower and whimper as if it were in fear. Oiwa didn’t. At first she thought it might take some time to set in, but later resigned herself to the understanding that she had been right in her initial analysis.

“Return.” Oiwa commanded, and the Moon Wolves disappeared -- as if time was rewound. 

“Lady Oiwa, was this why you came to our floor today?” Asked Aura, with Mare frivolously nodding behind her.

“Hmm? Oh, no, that is not the case. I wanted to test some things for myself. Can you set up a place for me?”

“Yes ma’am, I’ll get things ready this instant. But… would you mind if we watched? I see you have the legendary you-know-what, the most elite weapon that only you can use.”

“Sure. I don’t mind. Oh, and Aura, I’ve called the Floor Guardians here. They will be here within the hour.” 

“All the Floor Guardians? I guess that includes Shalltear doesn’t it?” 

“All the Floor Guardians.” Aura’s ears dropped, but then they both set off to go get set up. ‘Legendary you-know-what? Do they mean the staff?’ It wasn’t worth that much thought, so she moved on. Oiwa also noted that Aura’s bio had listed that she didn’t get along with Shalltear all that well.

“How are they going to react?” Oiwa whispered to herself.

~~~~~

Oiwa prepared to cast a spell and stretched out one of her fingers and pointed it at the straw figures that were set out for practice in the corner of the arena. The magic that Oiwa specialized in was mostly focused around secondary effects, like [Instant Death], rather than physical damage. Oiwa knew that this wouldn’t be effective against non-living targets, so she shifted her focus on the skill tree that she had memorized to recall other skills that would be more effective. Finally, she recalled the skill that she was looking for. She turned and looked at the twins, seeing if they were ready. Both of their eyes were sparkling with curiosity. 

Not only them, but the two hulking monsters that Aura had used to set up the field were also watching. Oiwa’s anxiety started to weigh on her, but it wasn’t long before whatever kept her emotions in check came to her rescue. She recalled that, back in the game, there was an aiming reticle, which is why she had pointed at her target. She hoped it would do the trick.

“Fireball.” Stated the Empress. From the end of her finger shot out a huge lump of blazing fire that zoomed over to the object she was pointing at. It enveloped the target and exploded, causing straw to go everywhere. Oiwa patted herself on the back mentally when she noticed the awed expressions of everyone on the field. This whole ordeal had only taken a second, but the results were immeasurable. The only thing left of the target was charred remains of straw.

Next Oiwa wanted to test another spell so she walked up to the other figure. When she was there she put her palm on the chest of the figurine. ‘[Napalm]’ She thought, and suddenly the whole figure went up in flames. It had worked.  
“Lady Oiwa. Shall we set up more targets?” Came a quizzical voice.

“No, that won’t be necessary Aura. I want to test one last thing...” She said, declining Aura’s request, and then turning to face the center of the arena. “Message.” She thought, trying to reach out to a GM or a member of her guild. Nothing happened. Oiwa felt like she had put out energy and sent it around the area, but eventually the spell timed out. ‘How discouraging.’ Next she tried it again, this time trying to reach Sebas, more like trying to see if a change of mindset would affect it. Surprisingly, this time it connected.

“Lady Oiwa.” Came the gruff voice in her head. Oiwa wondered if he was bowing from wherever he was. After a brief silence, the voice continued, “Is something wrong?” Sebas must not have known how to treat the silence at the other end.

“Sorry, Report to me what it’s like out there.” She finally said.

“We’re on a grassy plain, and there seems to be no sign of any intelligent lifeforms.”

“A grassy plain? No bog?” The Great Tomb of Nazarick was supposed to have been situated deep in a swamp inhabited by frog-people known as Tsveiks. Also, the whole area should have been covered by mist.

“No Ma’am, just a grassy plain.” So Nazarick had been teleported to some unknown location? “Is there anything in the sky? Any signs or signals?”

“Not from what I can see. It’s just a night sky, the same as the one on the 6th level.”

“I see. Be back in 20 minutes. Once you have returned, make your way to the Amphitheatre. I’m assembling all of the Guardians, and I plan to have you report what you have seen. Get as much information as you can before then.” 

“Understood.”

After the confirmation, she ended the spell. Right as she thought about taking a break, she remembered the twins. She turned and looked at them. They were still staring expectantly. She thought to herself that she needed something showy, that would show off her power in an advantageous way. Finally, she decided on summoning a Fire Elemental. It was one of the highest level summons she had, with it being in the upper 80’s in level, but was rather big and showy. Pointing the staff in the direction she wanted a vortex of fire and magma shot out of the end growing in size to be around 13 meters by 20 meters. Once the stream of flames had ended, they gathered in the center, slowly forming the elemental. 

“Whoa!” Came the gasps of the twins behind her. Oiwa turned and looked at them. Aura looked as if she had gotten the toy she always wanted.

“Want to fight it?” 

“Huh?”

“W-What?!”

Oiwa noted how Mare looked so childlike, but was caught off guard by Aura’s face. It was smiling, but seemed almost twisted. As if she might have enjoyed pulling the legs and arms off it like a spider. “Will you really let us fight it?”

“I don’t mind. It doesn’t matter to me if it gets defeated.” Oiwa shrugged. It had a recharge of 24 hours, which was quite a long time, but it meant that Oiwa would still be able to resummon it again if she needed to.

“You know? I just remembered I had something to do.” 

“Mare!” Aura said, grabbing him with an iron grip as he turned to flee.

“Don’t overdo it. I will be upset if either of you get hurt.”

“We won’t!” Sand Aura, as she dragged Mare with her. Oiwa realized early on in the fight how one sided it was, and almost felt pity as the Fire Elemental was being absolutely decimated. ‘I should have figured that this would be no problem for them.’ Oiwa took the next few moments of the battle to decide on how to deal with what was closing in on her: the arrival of the Floor Guardians.

~~~~~

The Fire Elemental disappeared into the air in a puff of smoke. It had been easily defeated. Oiwa noticed her air of dominance slightly fracture. While it was true that the elemental had amazing destructive power and stamina, it might have been just target practice for Aura who had superior evasive maneuvers and fire resistances. Oiwa also noted that even if she had gotten hit, that Mare easily could have healed her and was applying a constant stream of buffs to her, as well as, debuffs to the elemental.  
“Magnificent, you were both amazing.” Praised Oiwa, trying to put some inflection into her voice. She wasn’t sure if it really mattered based on how the twins faces lit up like a Christmas tree. 

“Thank you Lady Oiwa. That was really fun, and we haven’t been able to exercise for a while.” Aura remarked, strolling up to her with her brother in tow. When they were both within a considerable distance, they stopped and took a moment to wipe the sweat from their faces. Considering that they went out of their way to humor Oiwa, she considered giving them a reward. She opened up a rift tear and pulled out an item for the first time in this world: The Bottomless Pitcher of Water. Along with it, she also took out two glasses. Pouring the water from the pitcher into the glasses that were hovering in front of her, she cast them out as if she were using invisible hands to hand them to the children.

“Aura, Mare, drink this.”

“What?! We couldn’t possibly. We aren’t worth you being as kind to us.”

“Y-Yeah. We don’t need to trouble you with that. Plus, I-I can make water with my magic.” 

This upset Oiwa. She looked at Aura, who was waving her hands in front of her in polite refusal, then turned to Mare, who was shaking his head so fervorously that it seemed he might get a crick in his neck. Seeing them like that unsettled Oiwa. “Please take it. It’s just water. Take it as a token of my thanks for helping me with my research.”

Exasperated and defeated sighs followed, and then both of the twins, blushing, nervously reached out their hands and took the water glasses.

“T-Thank you, Lady Oiwa.”

“Yeah. I can’t believe you’re pouring drinks for *us*.” 

Another difference in their personalities was made clear then as Aura took her glass and gulped it down, while Mare took quick, frantic sips. Watching them, Oiwa put a hand to her throat, thinking that she hadn’t experienced thirst since she’d been here. Neither that, nor hunger or exhaustion. It was only natural though that undead wouldn’t experience any of these regular human conundrums, but the idea of not being human anymore still seemed like a joke to Oiwa. “Do you fancy another glass?” Was the only response that made sense, Oiwa thought, looking back at the twins.

“No thanks! That’s enough for me.” 

“U-Um. I’m okay. M-My throat’s not dry anymore.”

Oiwa then proceeded to take the glasses from them and return them with the pitcher into the rift. What came next, was a surprise that Oiwa hadn’t planned for. “I always pictured that you’d be a lot scarier.” Aura muttered, seemingly to herself.

“Oh? Is that so? I can be if it pleases you…” Oiwa said, undoing her [Unliving Flesh] spell. Oiwa knew that her flesh was then rotting at a pace that would have been terrifying to a regular human, allowing her dazzling white skeleton to show. Her eyes receded and were replaced with tiny glowing red orbs, that gave the appearance of being on fire. She also increased the pressure from her own aura around her, to try and be more intimidating. In the brief period that it took this to happen, both of the twins took a couple of receding steps back.

Next came a flurry of apologies and frantic attempts to get Oiwa to change back. She did, reapplying her spell, then gave a slight chortle. Apparently they liked her as she was. “Okay then. I will stay like this.”

“You aren’t t-this nice only to u-us are you?”

Suddenly there was a new voice present, “My, my. Am I the first to arrive?” The voice was young and silky, but still quite lovely. It was like a child trying to take on the role of an adult. Next, a Gate opened up, one of the portals that the Guardians were allowed to use, and out of the purple abyss walked a young girl: Shalltear Bloodfallen. Her allure was a mix of child-like cuteness swayed by adult attractiveness. She looked to be around 14 or younger.

Shalltear Bloodfallen is a true vampire and a Floor Guardian of the first to third floors in the Great Tomb of Nazarick. She was created by Peroroncino. She is a vampire of short stature and has the appearance of a buxom fourteen-year-old girl. Described as a true beauty, by her creator’s standards, she has pale, shiny skin, seductive crimson-red eyes, and fine facial features. Shalltear's long silver hair was tied up in a ponytail through a large ribbon on top of her head, allowing others a full view of her face. ‘How egotistical.’ She was wearing a soft raven-black ball gown with a big heavy skirt, like elitist English women would have worn. Her upper body was dressed in a lace embellished ribbon and a short tailored bolero cardigan. Her hands were donned with long lace gloves, not exposing any bit of skin exterior. However, Oiwa knew through conversations with Peroperocino, that her breasts were fake and completely flat, similar to a boy's. She covers this up by using an excessive amount of breast pads.

“Teleportation is restricted in Nazarick for a reason! Don’t go using a gate! You had to have entered the arena the normal way, so couldn’t you have just kept walking, Shalltear?” Came an icy-cool voice from beside her. Aura was overflowing with viciousness. The new occupant didn’t even so much as cast a glance at her, must less show any signs of acknowledgment. She smelled pleasantly like perfume. “You reek as well… probably due to your rotting body.”

“Oh come now, you know that Oiwa is also an undead!” Shalltear seethed, a vein popping up on her forehead, noticing that Oiwa had instinctively raised her arm up to see if she smelled. 

“Huh?!” Chided the voice, before carrying on. “Lady Oiwa isn’t simply just undead like you, I’m pretty sure she’s ‘Super-Undead’ or even ‘Godly-Undead’. No comparison at all!” Following this remark was a couple of grunts of understanding from both Mare and Shalltear. ‘I’m almost certain those aren’t even real classifications.’’ Oiwa thought.

Due to Oiwa having let down her guard around the children present, she failed to notice that Shalltear had pounced on her, wrapping her arms around Oiwa’s neck like a vice. This, of course, did nothing to Oiwa, who didn’t even budge. “Ah, my master. The sole being that I cannot conquer.” She purred, lustfully gazing at the being wrapped in her arms.

‘Was she programmed to be like this?’ Oiwa thought. Then realizing that her friend's motto was: “Porn games are my life!”, she instinctively knew that this must have been exactly how she was programmed to behave. Peroperocino was a special breed of human so this wasn’t too far from something that she would have thought possible.

“Oh? Aura, you’re still here? It must be hard to put up with an odd elder sister. You should put some distance between yourself and her as quick as possible, otherwise you might end up just like her.” Mare’s face went sickly pale, as he quickly realized that he was being used to pick a fight.

Aura, however, just smiled and said, “Shut up, Miss Fake Boobs.” She had clearly dropped a huge bomb.

“How’d you know?!”

“One glance is enough to tell! Look at how irregularly puffy they are! How much padding did you use? I bet they shift around when you run, is that why you used a gate?” She said, still shockingly calm.

Shalltear dropped from Oiwa’s waist, flailing her arms frantically as if to scrub the previously said words from existence. Now, she acted her age.

“Shut it, pip-squeak! You don’t have *any*! At least I have a lit- I mean, at least mine are big!” To this, Aura only smiled even brighter and more evilly. Shalltear, in response, took as step back as if she’d been shoved.

“I’m still only 76! I have plenty of time ahead of me. It must be tough being undead, unable to grow.” she chided. 

In between the two of them, stood Mare. He was helplessly caught in the crossfire between the two that were created by brother and sister. This brought a smile on Oiwa’s face, and she balled over, laughing maniacally and freely, remembering when the siblings would fight previously.

“WHAT A RACKET!” came a loud, booming voice. “YOU AMUSE YOURSELVES TOO MUCH BEFORE A SUPREME ONE.” 

They all instinctively turned to see where the voice was coming from. A little ways away, and steadily approaching was another grotesque. It was Cocytus, “Sovereign of the Frozen Floor”, as well as the Floor Guardian of the 5th Floor in the Great Tomb of Nazarick. He is the creation of Warrior Takemikazuchi.

Having an enormous body size of 2.5 meters, Cocytus had the appearance of an insect walking on two feet - a fusion between a mantis and an ant. With a tail twice as long as his height, Cocytus is covered in sharp spikes like icicles and has a strong jaw of an ant’s, that can easily snap people's limbs. Two of his hands held a silver halberd, while the remaining two hands held a mace emitting black light and a crooked shape sheath which seems to be for a broadsword. With a breathtaking cold air, the pale blue, hardened blue exoskeleton armor oozes out diamond dust like bright light. His shoulders and back looked like uplifted icebergs.

Oiwa, not being one to disagree, lowered her voice menacingly and spoke. “That’s enough for now.” This caused both of them to jump back and bow their heads repeating apologies all the while. She nodded her acceptance of their apologies, then turned to face the new behemoth that was within appropriate conversation range. “Hello Cocytus. Thank you for coming.” 

“I COME IMMEDIATELY WHEN YOU CALL, SUPREME ONE.” Cocytus puffed, breathing, and when he did an icy cloud escaped from his mandibles, and the air cracked as if it were being frozen. 

“Have you been bored as well, Cocytus, with there being no raiders these days?” Oiwa asked, half wanting to hear his reply half wanting to try and bait him to see his character.

“THERE CERTAINLY HASN’T BEEN MUCH GOING ON…” He said, then noticing that Oiwa had raised an eyebrow, he continued. “THAT BEING SAID, THERE IS ALWAYS THINGS TO DO.”

“‘Things to do’? Could you elaborate on what these things are?”

Realizing the slip up he had made, he tried to dig himself out of the pit he just dug. “TRAINING SO THAT I MAY BE OF USE TO YOU SHOULD YOU NEED ME.”

“Be of use to me? That pleases me greatly.”

“HEARING YOU SAY THAT MAKES IT ALL WORTH IT. OH, IT SEEMS DEMIURGE AND ALBEDO HAVE ARRIVED.” ‘Nice thinking.’ thought Oiwa, turning slightly to see where Cocytus was looking. Two grotesques were approaching. Oiwa knew one of them was Albedo, but took a moment to study the other one.

“Sorry to have kept you waiting, I hope it wasn’t for too long.” Came a raspy voice from the man. Demiurge, Oiwa remembered, was the “Creator of the Inferno” and Floor Guardian of the 7th Floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick as well as the Commander of the NPC defenses. He is the creation of Ulbert Alain Odle.

Standing at about 1.8 meters tall, Demiurge could be described as a demon with dark skin and nicely combed jet-black hair. Behind the round glasses that sat almost too perfectly on his face, are eyes so squinted that they didn’t appear to be visible. He was wearing a British three piece suit with a necktie, and was dressed like a gentleman lawyer or businessman. Behind his back swung a silver tail, covered with metal plates and six long spikes at the end. Oiwa could tell, Demiurge's pair of eyes lack eyeballs, in fact, shining jewels with numerous small cuts took the place of his eyeballs.

When both he and Albedo were within around the same distance as the others, they both gave elegant bows. Oiwa bowed her head slightly, and they both rose up. “This is everyone then.”

“Lady Oiwa, it appears to me that we are still missing two.” The voice was so charming that it was normally capable to worm itself into one’s heart. All of Demiurge’s words were infused with a passive skill [Incantation of Influence], it caused the weak hearted who heard his voice to instantly become his puppet. 

“There presence isn’t necessary. They’ve been assigned to prioritize other projects. We needn’t interrupt them for this.”

“If that is alright, then…”

“Let us commence with the ritual of allegiance.” Albedo said. The guardians all nodded, and before Oiwa could protest, they had arranged themselves behind Albedo and all got to one knee, bowing before her. They were all ceremoniously stiff, any sign of the light hearted atmosphere had vanished.

“Guardian of the First, Second, and Third Levels, Shalltear Bloodfallen. I bow before you, oh Supreme One.”

“GUARDIAN OF THE FIFTH LEVEL, COCYTUS. I BOW BEFORE YOU, OH SUPREME ONE.”

“Guardian of the Sixth Level, Aura Bella Fiore. I bow before you, oh Supreme One.”

“Guardian of the s-same, Mare Bello Fiore. I b-bow before you, oh Supreme One.”

“Guardian of the Seventh Level, Demiurge. I bow before you, oh Supreme One.”

“Captain of the Floor Guardians, Albedo. I bow before you, oh Supreme One.” Instead of that being the end of it, she continued, “The Floor Guardians have assembled to prostrate ourselves before you… We offer our complete devotion to you.”

Not having any clue what to do next, and completely lost in all regards, Oiwa accidentally set off multiple skills. The air grew tense as an aura radiated out from Oiwa, and a halo shown behind her. Frantically trying to regain her composure, she canceled them and spoke. “Rise.”

All of them rose then, completely in unison, so perfectly that Oiwa was under the suspicion that they had been practicing. Oiwa continued, “Thank you all for gathering. It is my firm belief that you all understand my aims, and have the ability to accomplish them without error. However, with that having been said, I would like you to listen carefully. It seems that The Great Tomb of Nazarick has been involved in an incident, and it is currently unclear how that has happened.”

Showing no signs of surprise from any of the guardians' faces, Oiwa continued. “It seems The Tomb has been transported from the bog to a grassy plain. Is there any among you who have seen or heard any signs that this might have happened?” It turned out, to Oiwa’s disappointment, that no one had. She continued again, “I have already sent Sebas to the surface to gather intelligence, he should arrive shortly.”

This caused the first sign of change in the Guardians faces. They were all shocked that Oiwa had sent the best NPC in straight up brawls out for such a low level task as reconnaissance. As if on cue, everyone’s heads turned to look at Sebas jogging up to them. “I hope I’m not too late.” was his response to the varying looks on everyone’s faces. He then stopped and bowed to Oiwa.

“Pay it no matter, more importantly, what pray-tell is it like on the surface?”

Hearing this Sebas launched into detailed descriptions that were mostly the same as the one he had reported to Oiwa earlier. After a brief from Sebas, he turned to Oiwa, looking for further instruction. “Nice work Sebas.” While it was nice that he had gathered what information he could, Oiwa was still on edge that someone would meet them with anger.

“Floor Guardians, return to your respective levels and raise the alert level for it by one. There are still so many things we don’t know yet, and we cannot be too cautious. I would also like some knowledge. Firstly, Albedo, I would like to know how you share security knowledge with the Floor Guardians?”

“Each security level is left up to the respective Guardian, but we do have a system for sharing knowledge. Demiurge oversees this.”

“Understood, Defense Operations Coordinator Demiurge, and Floor Guardian Captain Albedo, I am ordering you to work towards a more secure system.”

“Yes, my Lady, and to clarify, I’m assuming that we can exempt Floor 8, 9, and 10 from the system?”

“Victim has Floor 8 covered, so that is fine. Actually, I’m making Floor 8 off-limits. I take back the order I gave you earlier Albedo. As a general rule from now on, only those with my express permission will be allowed to enter the 8th level. Undo the seal that prohibits direct travel between the 7th and 9th Floor. Also let’s have the security system cover the 9th and 10th Floor as well.”

“I-Is that alright with you?” Albedo’s astonishment was plain to see printed on her face. 

Demiurge gathered what was happening and opened his eyes wide, saying what everyone was thinking. “You will permit lowly minions to enter the domain of the Supreme Ones? Is the situation so serious as that?”

“I have no problem with it. This is an emergency, so we must up our guard.”

“Understood. I’ll choose the very best, most noble minions for the job.”

Next, Oiwa turned and faced Mare directly. “Is it at all possible to hide the Great Tomb of Nazarick? I’m not sure if illusions alone will cut it and thinking about the energy required to maintain something like that isn’t reasonable.”

“I-It would be difficult to use magic if we need to hide all the parts that are above ground… but if we maybe covered the walls with dirt and grew plants out of it…”

“You intend to soil the walls of glorious Nazarick?!” Albedo said flatly -- even though the emotions contained were confrontational.

“Albedo, don’t interrupt. I’m talking with Mare.”

“Ah! My deepest apologies, Lady Oiwa!” She bowed low, her face frozen in fear. Everyone stared at her, waiting to see the judgement she brought on herself. Instead, Oiwa returned to the conversation at hand. “Is it possible to cover the walls with dirt and hide us?”

“Y-Yes. That is, i-if you’ll forgive me for doing s-such a thing.”

“Hmm… but if we were to be spotted at a distance, wouldn’t a huge mound be easily noticed? Sebas, were there any surrounding hills?” The answer that followed was a no, but there was a catch to it. It was suggested that they should make many rolling hills around them, so this one would blend in better. 

“Okay. That’s it for today. But before you all are dismissed, I have something to ask of you. What kind of person do you see me as? First, Shalltear.” Next came the proceedings of praise from each of the grotesques in order.

“I see. I think I have a thorough understanding of everyone’s thoughts. I’m entrusting the work of my friends unto you all. Strive to be ever loyal.” The next thing to happen was Oiwa teleported away, back to her bedchamber, the Guardians bowing at the blank space she used to be.


	3. Chapter 3: The Opening Moves of Chess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> People start making moves, and people start finding their roles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry up front. This chapter took longer than I wanted it too, and I got locked out of my dorm room for a while. I finally got a review so far, and it seems like this isn't the worst idea I've had. What do you think? LMK below please~!

Chapter 3 - The Opening Moves of Chess

In the room adjacent to the Empress’ bedchambers, there was hardly any room to move about. Lying about the self-coined dressing room were many various items: from robes to armor pieces, to staves and greatswords -- in truth, there was a lot of everything strewn everywhere. In Yggdrasil, players had the ability to inlay items with data-containing crystals that defeated boss monsters had dropped; therefore, allowing the player to create unique items -- hence, all of the items in the room. Players, for the most part, usually would find a unique style that they wanted, and began to stock up on those types of items.

Oiwa strolled over to one of the piles of swords and picked through it, eventually finding a heavy greatsword that wasn’t sheathed, and picked it up. She noted that it was covered in letter-like glyphs going down its cheek. To check its weight she lifted it out in front of her and held it still there, then proceeded to lift it up higher and let it fall back into place in front of her. It was light -- almost featherweight -- and this wasn’t a surprise to Oiwa. She knew that the material the sword was made of wasn’t light, but that she was just that strong. 

As a magic user, Oiwa had amassed a vast amount of Magic Ability points, and little in Physical Ability. This wasn’t a problem for her; however, as being a level 100 meant that by default she still had more than enough accrued to lift heavy objects and to bludgeon monsters with her staff.

Next, Oiwa decided to see if she would be able to use it in combat. The cause of this test was due to her earlier wondering if now that she physically inhabited this body if the character she had created was still under Yggdrasil’s rules and she was class restricted to only using caster primaries. She slowly shifted to a combat position as she had seen in mangas, then the sword fell from her hands -- ringing out as it hit the hard floor. The chambermaid beside her immediately bent over to pick it back up for her master and held it out with both hands offering it to her. Oiwa didn’t take it, but instead, continued to stare at her empty hands.

There was conflicting evidence here that was starting to annoy Oiwa. On one hand, NPC’s were acting as if they were alive, making Oiwa think that this was all real. On the other, there were these physical class limitations, like in the game. If -- and this was starting to look like a huge if -- this was still Yggdrasil, it would have made sense for Oiwa to not have been able to equip warrior items, but all evidence to the contrary seemed to be pointing towards a different conclusion. If this was the real world that Oiwa was a part of now, she should have been able to “equip” any item, as long as she had the ability to pick it up.

“Clean this up.” She said to the maid, then turned around and lackadaisically strolled over to the grand mirror on the far wall. Back in her world, if such a creature was drawing closer to her, she would have been completely mortified, but that thought didn’t come to her. Instead, Oiwa wanted to critique the grotesque before her and acquaint herself with it both mentally and physically. Most importantly to her, before anything else, she wanted to know if there was some innate *thing* that was suppressing her emotions when she felt any emotion strongly. She felt as if her desire had some limiter on it, as she didn’t feel the need to eat or sleep, nor did she feel any sexual desire -- not even when she had, in retrospect, assaulted Albedo earlier. Assailed by the feeling that she had lost something important to her, her gaze dropped below her waist, and she uttered, “I guess that’s how it’s going to be now.” The emotion went out of her extremely quiet utterance partway through. 

Oiwa surmised that her awfully levelheaded thought patterns and mentality were most likely due to her complete resistance to psychic attacks. ‘Right now I am an undead with the vestiges of a human. Of course, even if I am changing, one thing still remains, my will. Besides, there were still beings like Shalltear.’ It might be too soon to jump to conclusions like that.

Continuing on, she set out to try another thing. “Create Greater Item” She cast. Her appearance warped in the mirror, and a moment later she was clad in beautiful ebony looking armor. It was grandiose and exorbitant looking -- a deep raven color, accented by gold and purple. Oiwa moved about in the vicinity, testing her movements. It could be noted that it was more costly physically, to move about, but it wasn’t an issue to do so. Oiwa gazed at the image in the mirror, taking it all in. ‘So just like in Yggdrasil, I can equip an item if it was created with magic.’ Standing before the Empress was a warrior, one so great it was impossible to mistake that person for a caster. This would be advantageous for gathering intelligence in the new world. 

“I am going to leave now.”

“Your guard is ready.” Stated the maid.

This upset Oiwa greatly. In the first days of her being here, she was “escorted” around everywhere she went by the Honor Guard. It was overwhelming. The second day, she started to get accustomed to them, even wanting someone to brag to. But the third day… she was already completely over it. It had lost its gleam after a while of being constantly bowed to and followed everywhere by an entourage. To Suzuki, this was incredulously exhausting mentally, and even if she now had an emotional limiter, she felt like her brain was being slowly simmered on low heat. 

Then, to add insult to injury, there were the many god-like beauties that waited on her hand and foot constantly. They practically, in every sense of the word, never left his side. One would have thought that this would have made Oiwa beyond elated, but in fact, it seemed to make her feel like she had lost her personal space bubble that she always used to have in the real world. ‘I need to recharge. It isn’t going to be a good thing if the ruler of the Great Tomb of Nazarik were to commit an error in a critical situation and cause something tragic to happen due to mental strenuosity.’ 

“No. That’s not what I meant. I’m going to make some rounds alone.” She declared, making sure to add inflection in her voice on the last word, trying to come off as intimidating as possible.

“M-My lady! Please wait! If something should happen while you are out, we could not die as your shields.” She cried out, trying to show her resolve to die for her Empress. Oiwa felt like a heartless bitch for trying to go on a solo walk just to relax when confronted like this. Still, even though she felt as so, she racked her brain for an excuse.

“There is… something I must do in utmost secrecy. I will not allow any escorts.” A brief silence followed as the maid tried her hardest to find some way to stop Oiwa, but then looked resigned and the maid responded with a defeated understood and told Oiwa to be especially safe.

Lying to the maid felt like a stab in the chest, but Oiwa dismissed it with another excuse herself saying, ‘I need to see what it’s like outside. It’s crucial for me to see where we have been teleported to with my own eyes.’ The more she thought about it, the more she understood that she knew she was doing wrong. Shaking off the guilt, and knowing that she couldn’t back out now, she used her ring to teleport.

~~~~~

In the next moment, Oiwa stood in a large room with long, narrow stone platforms that were used to display the dead. (Not that there were any.) The floor was made of polished white stone of some sort. Behind her, she knew that there was a staircase that descended until it reached an enormous set of doors: the entrance to the Great Tomb of Nazarick’s first level. The torches, that were inlaid to the wall were unlit, the only source of light being the pale glow of the moon coming from the main entrance. Where she was currently was closest to the surface, called the Central Mausoleum. Even though outside was just within reach, Oiwa didn’t move as her feet were glued in place. She had encountered something that unexpected.

Across the room, she saw a band of grotesques. She noted that there were twelve total, four groups of three different species. One group was of something close to reptilian demons, the next was a set of women with bondage gear and crow heads, and finally, was a set of beautifully toned men that had bat wings and horns sprouting from their heads. The three biggest ones Oiwa knew personally, and she concluded that the others were most likely servants. They were called Evil Lord Wrath, Envy, and Greed in order from left to right.

All of their eyes turned to face Oiwa as soon as she had appeared, but none of them made any signs of movement otherwise. The gaze that followed seemed to exert physical pressure on her. They were all around level 80 to 90 and were suppose to be stationed around Demiurge’s residence. ‘Normally, undead mobs stationed under Shalltear’s control would be stationed this close to the surface… so why are Demiurge’s minions here?’ Then the answer was presented to her. She had been scanning the crowd in front of her for a while, but she had failed to notice the demon behind them.

“Demiurge…” 

When the demon had heard his name, his face twisted into one of confusion. It was most likely due to him either thinking it strange for Oiwa to be here, or that he thought the appearance of the monster in front of him looked out of place. She then proceeded to make her way over to the gaggle, killing any fear that crept up as she went. The distance between them closed, and as if by previous arrangement, everyone bowed before her, getting down on one knee. Demiurge had, naturally, made his way to the front before bowing so smoothly and refind that he was reminiscent of a nobleman in a story. After a respectable moment, he rose and addressed Oiwa. “What in the world are you doing here without your guards, Lady Oiwa? And what are you wearing?”

They had seen through her guise instantly. It wasn’t likely for her to have duped the most intelligent man in Nazarick, but then realized that having teleported here hadn’t done her any favors. Only someone with the guild ring would have been able to teleport as she had, making it a dead giveaway. “Ah… well, I have my reasons. And as for the armor, I’m sure you have already figured it out.”

Several changes flittered around his face, showing changing emotions, and then, a couple of breaths later, he responded, “My apologies, Lady Oiwa. It seems I’m unable to comprehend the profound depths of your-”

“Refer to me as Empress of Temptation .”

“Lady Empress of Temptation…?” Demiurge’s face still showed confusion. Oiwa, embarrassed, knew that the name was generic, but it fit right in the other titles that the other monsters had. In addition, Oiwa knew that she would be passing many peons and didn’t want to constantly hear her character name, as it seemed weird, almost like she was cosplaying. Finally, a light lit up in Demiurge’s face, and he smiled a wicked smile. She wondered what he had decided she was thinking. “I see… So that’s why!” 

‘What do you see?!’ She almost scrame, but stopped herself just short of opening her mouth. She just stood there, silently wishing that he hadn’t guessed her intentions. “Lady Oi- Temptress of the Moon, I have grasped one part of your profound intentions. It is certainly a show of consideration befitting our ruler, however, it would not do for me to overlook you being out without an escort. I deeply understand what a bother this must be, but I beg you to pity me enough to let me present you with an escort.” He continued.

“I suppose I’m in a position where I cannot refuse you. I will allow one guard to accompany me.”

An elegant, but dark smile then spread across his face. “I appreciate you granting my selfish request, Lady Empress of Temptation.”

“You don’t need to add ‘Lady’ preceding my title…”

“Surely you aren’t serious! To do such would be blasphemous! Of course, if it were a special infiltration mission or I had special direction from you on a mission to address you as such, I would obey them, but do you really think that there is anyone in all of Nazarick who could refer to you, Lady Oiwa -- I mean, Lady Empress of Temptation -- without a proper title befitting a Supreme One?”

Oiwa considered it. Nodding to him, she internalized that she had the feeling that this repeated emphasis on the new name was to poke fun at the absurdity of it, and she immediately regretted choosing a name so hastily.

“How rude of me!” Demiurge spat, “I am taking up your precious time, Lady Oi- Empress of Temptation... You all stand by here and explain where I’ve been.” he said, looking over his shoulder at the others.

“Understood, Master Demiurge.”

“Well, it seems like everything is settled. Shall we?” Demiurge bowed in acceptance, and while that happened Oiwa slipped passed him and continued towards the door. A moment later, Demiurge followed.

~~~~~

The scenery of everything that was before Oiwa was spectacularly, breathtakingly beautiful. The part of the Great Tomb that was above ground was a walled-in mortuary that sat on more than two thousand square feet. The walls that surrounded the place of rest were twenty feet high and thick enough to have been comparable to the Great Wall that surrounded China in the old world. In the surrounding graveyard, the undergrowth was kept and neatly trimmed, giving off a sense of serenity. Around the graveyard, as if to offset the heavenly balance, were large trees that gloomily cast shadows on the countless white gravestones which formed disorderly rows. 

Along with the statues of angels and goddesses, made with extensive artistic merit, there was severe discord, as everything warped with a chaotic design to brow-furrowing levels. In each of the cardinal directions, were fairly large mausoleums, and in the center sat the Central Mausoleum, the entrance to the Great Tomb of Nazarick -- from which Oiwa had just come. From above the whole compound, Oiwa noted, the whole place must have been reminiscent of a compass. She looked out at the world.

Here there was a perplexingly stunning night sky, unlike the one on Helheim -- the world the Great Tomb was originally from. Instead of a perpetual night made for dismal scenery, with eternally thick dark clouds, the sky was completely open and clear, not polluted by humans or anything of the like. Gazing up at the stars, she sighed and said, “For a fantasy world, this beautiful sky is proof that the air is not polluted. There must not even be need for respirators here.”

Knowing that her armor would prevent her from casting, as she didn’t have the skill required to cast in armor, Oiwa reached into the rift and retrieved the item that would alleviate the need for the spell she desired to cast. It was a white rope necklace with a golden birdwing charm. She fastened the necklace around her neck and spoke the incantation that was contained within the pendant, giving it some of her mana. “Fly.”

In the following instant, finally freed from gravity, Oiwa ascended as fast as she could. Demiurge rushed to change his appearance hastily, releasing his wings to follow, but Oiwa was too transfixed on wanting to be able to see farther out, to see more of this world. When she began to question how far up she was, her body halted instantly. She removed the helm that she had donned to try and get a better view of the world below her. As she looked, she said nothing, unable to speak.

The stars and the two moons, banished this Earth’s darkness, softly illuminating it with the combined light from above. Whenever there was even the slightest of breezes, the field before her rustled and shook, giving off a gleam that sparkled under the moonlight. Everything shone from heaven’s gift. “A clichéd word so simple as “stunning” would hold no candle to the scene before me. I wonder what Blue Planet would say if he could see this… a world seemingly without air, water, or soil pollution.”

She remembered that he had created the 6th Level and that the sky that was artificially created, with hours of labor, was his dream realized of an ideal world. He had always been overly excited about nature, and this made Oiwa start to wonder how mind boggled he would have been to see this world. How much would he have gushed to her, looking like a child who had received the gift they wanted so badly for so long on a holiday. She looked over her shoulder, but saw nothing, then grew something akin to sadness -- or maybe loneliness. Her friends weren’t here with her. 

Then, as if to be reminded that she wasn’t actually alone, she heard the flapping of wings grow nearer. She had vaguely caught a glimpse of Demiurge transforming, but now took the time to look at him in greater interest. He now had black wings made of a moist membrane that were sprouted from his back, and his face was warped into something vaguely frog-like -- no longer close to human-looking. This was his half-demon form, something that some grotesques had who were quite powerful, like Sebas and Albedo. The reason for this was that the guild had decided that it was popular for the NPC’s to be akin to the last boss of a level and having multiple forms. Oiwa decided to speak to the demon, looking away so as to hide the fact it wasn’t her friend, uttering the same comment she had wanted to say earlier. “To be able to see just by the light of the stars and moons, this cannot be the same world. Everything sparkles like a box of jewels.”

“Perhaps it is just a box of jewels. Maybe we are here because you are meant to adorn yourself with these jewels, as befitting a Supreme One, a god to us members of the Great Tomb of Nazarick.” Demiurge remarked, looking out as well. This interruption from Demiurge reminded herself that her friends were not actually here, and for a moment she grew furious. But then, with the help of the limiter and the scenery down below, it settled. 

“Maybe you are right Demiurge. Maybe it is mine for the taking.” She said. Oiwa raised her gauntlet and tried to fit all of the stars within it. “But I feel it is wrong to monopolize these treasures. Ainz Ooal Gown -- the guild my friends created -- should be embellished as well.”

“That is quite the attractive idea, My Lady, if I do say so myself. If you so wished it, then I would mobilize all of the Great Tomb of Nazarick post haste, and take this box of jewels and prostrate myself before you, offering it all to you. This is what I would do for the one I so respect, the last of the Forty-One, the Supreme One who stayed behind to rule over us eternally.”

Oiwa chuckled softly and lightly at that response, filled with so much melodrama. She questioned if the ambiance was making Demiurge drunk with lust. “Thank you, but that is a foolish statement. We know nothing of this world; as far as we know we are nothings here. However, I do truly appreciate the sentiment, and the thought of ruling over this world does amuse me.” She sounded like a villainess from a children’s television show. Oiwa also knew that it wouldn’t be such an easily accomplishable feat. Just like with her old boss’ company, there would arise many problems with maintaining public order and quelling any internal rebellions. She also thought of the strife that came about when many countries had come together, united under a common goal of squashing someone who challenged their way of life. Given these facts, Oiwa wondered if there was anything good that came about if she were to undertake a world conquest. 

She knew it was a childish desire, she had seen the world was pretty, and she had wanted it. But there was also a deeper reason for her having had wanted the world. Her friends, Ulbert, Luci◆Fer, Variable Talisman, and Belliver had once jested that they wanted for the guild to conquer at least one of Yggdrasil’s worlds. “An unknown world before me… but is it truly so that I am the only one here? Would it be possible that my friends could be here as well? If that is the case, then it would be wise for me to spread the name of Ainz Ooal Gown throughout this world in hopes to get their attention. If they were to hear of it, then assuredly they would come.”

Lost in her thoughts, she turned her attention below towards Nazarick. As she did, a huge swell of earth surged towards the walls and struck them. What had started as little swells of earth, grew together and formed a huge wave of almost 100 meters wide, focused on one target: the wall. The attacking dirt smashed against the walls then broke apart, forming a hill against the wall.

“So he is using [Earth Surge]... but not only that, he’s using another skill to increase the area of effectiveness as well as a class skill. I would expect nothing less from Mare. It appears leaving this to him was the correct idea.”

“It is as you say, my Lady. Beside Mare bearing the brunt of the work, we have also employed undead, golems, and other minions who do not experience fatigue from physical labor. Unfortunately, others are making little progress. When they move the earth, they disrupt the land and leave it barren, making more work for Mare.”

“Due to the vastness of our walls, it makes sense that it would take quite a while to cover them and that the world would be different from how it was previously. The problem we currently face is what to do if the situation arose that we were discovered before we were finished. Do you have any precautions in place should that situation mandate it yet, Demiurge?”

“An early warning network is currently in place, so we will be notified ahead of time, should any intruders wander into the area. This network will tell us if it detects any sentient beings within approximately 5 miles of the surrounding area instantly and without their knowledge.”

“As expected of Nazarick’s defense commander. Are there minions within this system?” Oiwa questioned. In response to Demiurge’s affirmative, she continued saying that she wanted another network put into place without minions, as a failsafe.  
“Understood Lady Oiwa. It will be as you say, once I consult with Albedo. By the way, may I ask what your plans are?”

“Currently? I’m going to go check on Mare and reward him since he is carrying on my orders so well. I wonder what would be appropriate though…”

Oiwa turned then to face Demiurge and a smile settled on his face. It was fatherly and lighthearted; unbecoming of a demon. “I believe that just talking to him will be more than reward enough-“ he said then paused, his face settling back out to a more placid neutral expression. “My apologies. Something has come up. I won’t be able to-”

“It’s fine. Go handle your work Demiurge. Make Nazarick proud.”

“Many thanks to you, oh Supreme One, and I will do as you say.” As Demiurge flapped his wings and began to head away, Oiwa started her descent. 

Situated on the wall, near where Oiwa planned to land, Mare stopped working and looked up, noticing that someone was approaching. Surprise broke out upon his face, as he noticed who was approaching. Upon landing, Mare came scampering over, skirt flapping as he ran. ‘Oh? I can almost see underneath.’ 

“L-Lady Oiwa! Welcome! I m-most humbly t-thank you for coming!” 

“Mare, dearest, please don’t be so scared around me or feel the need to rush around. If it settles you any bit, you can also drop the formalities when it’s just the two of us.”

“I-I cannot do that! N-Not to a-a Supreme One! Sis ought to do b-better as well, w-we cannot be so i-impolite.”

“Is that so? I don’t wish to force anything on you, but if that is what you have decided, then I will say no more on the subject.” She felt it wrong to make children stand on ceremony.

“W-What brings you h-here, Lady Oiwa? Did I-I do something wrong?” Mare said, slowly taking a step back as if he were preparing to be beaten.

“No, Mare, I came to praise you for doing such an amazing job.” Noticing that his body language switched from scared to surprise, she continued. “The work you’re doing is extremely important. If there was some bad guy out there, we need to be able to hide ourselves from them.” Mare nodded once, still a little confused as to what was happening. “So I wanted to tell you how happy I am with your work, as well as the peace of mind you give me by working so hard. Do you understand?”

One rule the Oiwa had borrowed from her boss was his motto: “Good bosses praise their workers when appropriate.” While she knew that the guardians, as well as everyone she had interacted with so far, had a much to high opinion of Oiwa, she was determined to not lose their loyalty, so she acted so. She had maintained the guild for so long, and so if she were to be betrayed by the guild’s guardians and minions now, she knew she would lose the right to be the guild’s leader. 

“Of course, Lady Oiwa!”

“Good. Then I would like to give you a reward for your good work.”

“B-But, it’s only n-natural that I should do this work!”

“And it is also only natural that I would give a reward for a job well done.”

“N-No it’s not! W-We exist to serve the Supreme Beings! I-It’s only natural that we should get things done well!”

This exchange was repeated a number of times, and it seemed like they were both resolute in their individual beliefs. Beginning to sense futility, Oiwa decided to sway the conversation in her favor. “Then let’s say this, surely there is no problem with receiving a token from me that also would benefit your work in the future, right?”

“I-I suppose. If y-you are sure this i-is okay...” Oiwa reached into the void that appeared and pulled out the reward. It was a guild ring. The boy, seeing it, recoiled and began a new stream of complaints. “L-Lady Oiwa! I-I think that you have pulled out the wrong thing!”

“No. I-”

“No, you must be mistaken! That’s a Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown -- a treasure that only the Supreme Beings can possess! There is absolutely no way that I could accept such an item!”

Oiwa was taken aback by how hard Mare was trembling, and how his vocal stutter had all but disappeared. While it was true that the ring was from the guild, there were 100 of the things, so Oiwa hadn’t thought that much of it as there were still 59 that had no one designated to them. Part of the reason Oiwa had wanted to give one to Mare was how useful it would be in the future. Mare looked ready to bolt. Oiwa reached out and pet his head, trying to calm him down, and in a soothing voice said, “Relax, Mare.”

“I can’t!” Mare practically shouted. “Y-You just said that a ring of the Supreme Beings was g-going to be my reward!”

“Mare, just think about it. Transportation within Nazarick is prevented, isn’t that inconvenient? In the event that we were attacked, I would want each Floor Guardian to act as commander of their Level. If they can’t teleport, or escape, that wouldn’t work well and would trouble me greatly. That’s why I would love for you to accept this ring.” The ring, now resting in Oiwa’s open palm, sparkled in the moonlight. Mare seemed to be beginning to calm down so she continued with her plight. “You should know that your loyalty makes me happy, and I understand quite well that you don’t feel you can accept this ring as one of our subjects, but I really hope that you can grasp my intentions.”

“B-But why me?! Could it be that you plan on giving one to all of the Floor Guardians?”

“I do plan on doing that, but right now, I want to give you one to show that I think highly of your work. In addition, if I were to give them to others who hadn’t done anything else, the significance of the ring being a reward would be lost. Now, please take it and continue to serve Nazarick and myself.”

Still trembling, Mare bowed and accepted the ring. Oiwa felt a little guilty seeing Mare like this because she hadn’t told the full truth. The hidden factor to giving Mare a ring was that she didn’t want it to be overtly transparent that it was her when she teleported. Watching Mare slip the way-too-big ring on his slender tiny finger, it surprised both of the parties that it suddenly changed its size to fit the wearer. Mare continued to stare at his hand and then turned directly towards Oiwa and bowed deeply. “L-Lady Oiwa. Thank you so m-much for this. I-I promise to strive to be worthy of such a-a treasure!”

“I certainly hope that you will.”

“U-Um… Lady Oiwa? Why are you dressed like that?” ‘You’re one to talk.’ 

“It’s simple Mare.” Came a helping hand from behind Oiwa. Upon turning around Oiwa was completely captivated by the sight of beauty incarnate floating down from the heavens. Illuminated by the light of the sky, if someone had told her that the person before her had a heavenly aura and must have been a goddess, Oiwa would have agreed in a heartbeat. Then, as if being mocked by God, black wings shifted and Albedo landed. Behind her Demiurge also landed, but Oiwa was too captivated to notice him at first. “The reason for the armor and the reason she hid her name earlier was simply that she didn’t want to disturb our work. If Lady Oiwa were to show up, everyone would naturally stop and demonstrate their submission to him. But that is not what she wishes, so she created the persona of Empress of Temptation, to say that it was unnecessary to stop our work to pay the proper respects. Right, Lady Oiwa?”

Oiwa nodded vigorously in response. “How very like you to perceive my every intention, Albedo.”

“As Captain of the Flood Guardians, it’s only natural, my love. No, I’m confident that even if I weren’t Captain, I would still know the heart of the woman I love, Lady Oiwa.” Oiwa noticed the less-than-thrilled look on Demiurge’s face as she said that.

“O-Oh! I see…” Mare retorted, seemingly impressed. When Oiwa looked back at the other group, she saw something that made her do an instant double-take. For one instant, Albedo had opened her eyes so wide it looked like they would fall out of her head and rolled them, like a chameleon or something might do, to look at Mare’s finger. Her face returned to normal before Oiwa could even think anything of it. She was back to her beautiful self like that previous expression had been a drug-induced hallucination. “Did you need something?”

“What? Ah, oh, nothing. Okay, well then, Mare, sorry to bother you. Please take a break and then continue working.”

“I will! Then, if you’ll excuse me, Lady Oiwa.”

Oiwa nodded gently, not taking her focus off Albedo, and Mare scampered away, still gawking and ogling over his new prized possession. “And what brings you here, Albedo?”

“I heard from Demiurge that you were here and thought I would come pay my respects to my beloved. I apologize immensely for appearing before you in such a filthy state.” In what universe could that term apply to Albedo? Yes, there *might* be some dust and a spec of dust somewhere on her dress, but even if there were it wouldn’t mar her beauty.

“You needn’t apologize for that, Albedo. Your radiance could not be marred by such. I do feel hurt for making such a peerless beauty run about, but this is an emergency and there is no one in all of Nazarick that I trust more than you.”  
“For you, Lady Oiwa, I would run any length and do whatever you desired of me~.”

“I’m immeasurably grateful for your loyalty… Oh, Albedo. I have something to give to you.”

“Give me… what? I wonder…” As Oiwa took out another ring, Albedo lowered her eyes a little, trying to keep her facial features neutral. Of course, it was another one of the guild rings.

“I wanted to give you one of these seeing as you are the Captain of the Floor Guardians.”

“... Thank you, my beloved.”

After the reaction that Mare had given, this response was kind of a letdown. But Oiwa had misread what was happening. Albedo’s lips were twitching as if she were desperately trying to hold her expression together. The slight twitching of her wings was also the result of her trying not to flap them. The hand that had taken the ring was also shaking. With all of these signs, Oiwa struck herself mentally for not noticing and failing to understand what was happening before her. She turned to face Demiurge. “Strive to be loyal, Demiurge… if you succeed in this endeavor I will have one for you another time.”

“Noted, Lady Oiwa. I will endeavor to be worthy of such.”

“Well, I finished what I came to do. I will be heading back to the 9th Level now.” Albedo and Demiurge saw her off with a bow as she teleported away. She had the feeling that right as the view before his eyes was changing, he had heard Albedo cry out, “Sweet!” but Oiwa figured she had misheard, as Albedo wouldn’t have used such an inelegant expression. Right?

~~~~~

Now, seated at the head of the table and back in her usual attire, Oiwa concentrated on the mirror before her. The three-meter mirror in front of her didn’t show Oiwa’s reflection but instead showed the grassy plains outside. The grass swayed and bustled about, proving to any onlooker that it wasn’t a still image. By now, the sun was starting to rise gradually, banishing the darkness over the plains. The pastoral scene before her was not like the one she was used to, however, she was starting to become accustomed to it. Oiwa lifted her hand and slowly waved it to the right; the scene held within the mirror slid in correspondence. 

The mirror was a unique item from Yggdrasil called the Mirror of Remote Viewing. Since it was capable of displaying a specified location, Player Killers or Player Killer Killers found it a useful item. However, one drawback was that players could also hide from the item using anti-intelligence magic, as well as, use reactive barriers to counter-attack the prying eyes. This made the item questionably useful, however, since Oiwa was just looking at the surrounding area, it was perfect for the job at hand. ‘Even though it’s only been a couple of minutes, I feel I’m getting the hang of using this item. It handles just like a smartphone’s mapping service. Not that I would tell my on-looker.’ Oiwa thought, glancing out the corner of her eye to look at the person standing a couple of paces behind her. 

“What is it, Lady Oiwa? Whatever you require, I am at your service.”

“It is nothing, Sebas.” The butler smiled but the smile seemed to still hold a bit of animosity. It had been like that since the butler had heard that Oiwa had left without an escort. While Sebas did respect Oiwa deeply, he was rather miffed, and when she had gone to the room she was currently in he had given her some “advice” as he called it. It comforted her -- being with Sebas -- as he was almost the same person as his creator, Touch Me. ‘They are both so similar when they’re mad as well.’ She said to herself internally, then turned back to the mirror.

“Thank you for staying with me Sebas, I’m sorry to have had you wait on me all day so far.”

“What are you saying, my Lady? As a butler, the reason I was created was to stand by and obey your every order. There is nothing whatsoever to feel sorry about. However, it is true that quite some time has passed, would you like for me to get you something and take a break?”

“No, thank you though, but that is unnecessary as I’m an Undead and don’t get negative effects like fatigue. If you, however, need to take some personal time, I do not mind.”

“I thank you for your kindness, my Lady, but what butler can rest while his master is still at work? I also experience no fatigue physically -- thanks to an item I was given -- so I will continue to accompany you until you are finished with your current work.”

Oiwa smiled internally as she was piecing together the fact that the NPC’s were still using game terms like status’ and video game expressions and understood game commands -- for the most part. She retorted that she understood, then threw herself back into traversing the mirror. After another inordinate amount of time, Oiwa had found the thing she was looking for. It was a small village. Oiwa speculated that the village was not very advanced. If she had to infer a guess, it looked similar to villages of the 1700s that she had seen pictures of in grade school. Something was off about the village though, so Oiwa expanded the field of view.

“What’s happening there?”

“It appears to be a massacre, my Lady.” Sebas, who had moved beside her, answered in a steely voice as he watched the scene with a piercing gaze. True enough, there were knights brandishing weapons and slaughtering the village people. Each time a knight raised their sword, another villager fell as they appeared to have no means of resistance.

‘I should ignore them. This village holds no value nor use for me. If I were able to ascertain more knowledge of the world, it might be worth it, but as it stands, I don’t see them being very helpful.’ After this train of thought, Oiwa felt slightly disgusted with herself. She was watching a village be mercilessly annihilated and her first thought was that she didn’t want to save it as it held no current value to herself. These were not the thoughts of a former human, these were those of a monster. Still onlooking what was happening before her, as if one of the villagers had taken notice of her, one of the slain villagers looked up -- right at her -- and uttered a plea, “... Please. My daughters.”

“What will you do?” Sebas asked. He looked as if he had been waiting for the right time to ask this. 

There was only one answer as Oiwa was not a hero of this story. “Ignore them. We have nothing to gain from helping them.”

“Understood.”

Oiwa glanced at Sebas; behind him appeared a vision of her former guildmate. “Right, Touch?” But then the vision’s face warped into one of disapproval. Oiwa remembered what he always said, ‘When someone’s in trouble, it’s only natural to help them.’ This made Oiwa lose her connection to reality and she was thrust back into a long-forgotten memory. When she had just started playing Yggdrasil, she was constantly PK’d to the point of wanting to quit, but was saved by her White Knight. ‘If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be here today. I wouldn’t have had all the fun we had as a guild. I guess I should repay my debt I owe to you.’ She slowly sighed a resigned sigh and smiled faintly. Her next course of action was obvious. 

“Sebas, put Nazarick on the highest alert level. I am going on ahead. Albedo is standing by in the next room; tell her to fully arm herself and follow -- but no Ginnugagap. Also, prepare reinforcements if something should happen and we become unable to retreat. Have them be good with stealth abilities or invisibility.”

“I understand. I will do so now, but, if you need an escort, then I would-”

“If you escort me, then who will relay my orders? If these knights are rampaging throughout this village, then isn’t it possible that another group could come here whilst I am out? If that were to happen, then I would need you here.”

Then, without Oiwa’s action, the scene in the mirror changed. What was now before them was a girl, who had punched a knight. The girl then took hold of a younger girl and tried to run away. Oiwa summoned her Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown immediately seeing as the girl’s back was deeply cut and bleeding all down her back. ‘There is no time.’ “[Gate].” Oiwa decided to travel by way of the most reliable teleportations spell. It would cover any distance with a no-fail rate.


	4. Chapter 4: Gaining Value

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Kicking @$$ and getting paid, two of my favorite things." - Tank Dempsey (COD:BO)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tried something new, this was a little short because my end of week is super busy on base :/

Chapter 4 - Gaining Value

Oiwa knew that when she appeared she would be in the clearing of the forest that surrounded the village, approximately less than 8 meters outside of town. That was as far as the children had gotten before the guards had closed in on them. Just as the scene was a moment ago, before her were two girls -- and elder and a quite younger -- crumpled up on the ground; surrounding them were knights. All parties involved were surprised that someone had entered the fray unexpectedly, and it seemed as if time itself had stopped as nobody moved for a moment. All eyes were on the new figure present. 

While it should have, by all means, startled Oiwa that her new opponents wielded swords and had a murderous lust in their eyes, she was calm. In fact, the only thing she had on her mind was how surprised she was that there was no magic in the vicinity that blocked teleportation. Pushing aside her squabble with herself on the opposing teams lacking strategies, with a cool and level head she raised her hand in front of the guard that was closest to the girls. “[Grasp Heart].” After casting the spell, she felt something form in her hand. It was as if she had grasped a frog that was puffing in and out in her hand. She squeezed it hard and then proceeded to watch on as the guard in front of her collapsed onto the ground in a quick heap. This 9th tier spell was one of Oiwa’s specialties, as she was a ghost caster, and specialized in instadeath casts. 

Oiwa had chosen this spell, because she was still unsure of the enemy’s capabilities and even if the knight had resisted the spell, it still had a heavy stun, and Oiwa had planned to use this to her advantage to nab the girls and jump through the still-open portal behind her. But the spell had done its job. Looking down at the now lifeless body, Oiwa was again finding herself lost in thought, mostly of how she hadn’t felt anything for the human and had taken his life with little to no guilt nor hesitation. ‘Have I quit being human in both body and soul now?’

Oiwa focused on the situation still at hand and stepped past the children who gave a slight shriek when she passed them to focus on the other guards present. Any onlooker would have been able to tell that Oiwa was here to save them, so this response to Oiwa’s actions had slightly confused her and she wondered why they acted as if she had done something insane and acted so panicked. She now stood far enough in front of them to shield them if it came to that and glared menacingly at the two other knights present. They registered the situation they were now in and took a slight step back, appalled at what had just happened so fast. “So you are fine chasing children around, but feel I am too much to handle?” She sneered at their still shocked inadvertent responses to her advances and went about choosing her next spell carefully. While her first attack had been advanced and showy, she decided to a mid-tier one next to test her ability compared to the enemy’s. 

“Since you are both here, I hope you will help me test something else out.” She had decided on casting a basic attack magic spell, as she was specialized in ghost magic and her basic magic was lacking in Yggdrasil. She noted that the knights were in iron armor so she thought to test her lightning magic as that would most likely be the weakest due to electric resistances being usually cast on iron armor. “[Dragon Lightning]!” 

White lightning grew from her hand and writhed up her arm to her shoulder as if it were a living entity. Just as quick as it had appeared on her arm, it lept from her pointer finger -- now trained at one of the knights -- like electric discharge from a cloud. Oiwa knew that this was impossible to dodge or guard against. If you had blinked, you would have missed the discharge change shape as if left her finger and take the form of a dragon then lit the knight up jarringly white for an instant; the knight then collapsed like a marionette who had just had its strings cut. Charred flesh could faintly be smelled, wafted around in the air by the slight breeze. Oiwa was audibly shocked. “What? This easily? And from a 5th tier spell no less.”

Following this pitiful display, Oiwa’s shock turned to disappointment then to caution. It could have been that these two were the odd ones out, and it would be a huge disappointment if she were to die from underestimating the others within the village. All of her worry fell off her shoulders at this point, but she still kept the portal open, not wanting to give up her exit yet. Thirdly, she turned to the last knight -- who had seemed to have completely given himself over to fear and soiled himself -- she wanted to test one last thing. Quickly disposing of him, she cast her final spell, [Create Middle Undead: Death Knight]. 

In Yggdrasil, when this spell was cast a new entity would shimmer into existence near the player who was slain, but in this world, it was quite different. A black mist formed around the fallen knight, and oozed itself through the knight -- seeping in and out of the armor -- and puffed and melted throughout the corpse completely covering it. Then the mass started changing the appearance of the knight causing it to swell out and thicken, as well as, grow like a quickened puberty all the while shedding its skin until the corpse was a 2.6-meter tall charred skeleton. The fallen knight then got up in an unhuman way and stood before Oiwa. It made sense to call this monstrosity a beast more so than a human, or what remained of one. 

The knight’s armor had gone through a metamorphosis as well its physical body. Where the knight originally had wielded a smaller kite shield and a broadsword, It now had a gargantuan ebony tower shield in one hand and an overly large flamberge in the other. The new set of armor was all similar to zirconium in appearance, but seemingly emitted a dark crimson-black aura that radiated from every piece that wasn’t ornamented with crimson arteries that splayed the armor -- looking akin to spiderwebs. What now stood before Oiwa could be called the embodiment of violence, with its jutting spikes appearing from all points on the armor and brandishing a new horned helmet that looked truly hellish. He stood awaiting orders, physically imposing with the blaring fire where the eyes should have been seething rage and distaste for humanity.

Oiwa could feel a connection had formed mentally with the Death Knight, close to what she had felt with the Fire Elemental and the Moon Wolves. She used this connection to point at the other fallen knights and tell the summon, “Kill these knights who are attacking this village. Do not harm any others.” In response to this, the Death Knight bellowed a roar of acceptance and turned to lumber off back towards the village. Oiwa audibly groaned in frustration as the Death Knight maladroitly bumbled away from her. Death Knights were supposed to stay near their summoner and protect them, but this was a difference between Yggdrasil and this world: this world had freedom. “He’s gone! What is the point of a shield who does not shield and leaves the one he’s supposed to protect!”

Without her guard, Oiwa felt naked and exposed. She thought to make another one, and was weighing the option of spending more mana to produce another, when someone came through the still-open gate just before it timed out and faded. ‘Ah. Nevermind. This will do.’

The new figure that had appeared was bedizened in demonic armor from head to toe. No signs of skin shown among the thorny raven-black plating. In the clawed gauntlets were a kite shield and a bardiche that both gave off a sickly green glow. Draped over the shoulders were both a mantle and surcoat that were blood red. “My apologies. Getting ready took longer than expected.” From beneath the horned close helmet came the charming voice of Albedo.

As Albedo was the Floor Captain, she was spec’d to be a monstrosity to fight against, having her points sufficiently put into defensive capabilities -- as expected of a Dark Knight -- and was Nazarick’s best tank. She would be Oiwa’s new shield. “That is fine. Your timing is quite perfect actually.”

“Thank you. Should I dirty my hands in your place in dealing with these lower life-forms that are still alive?” She stated, physically disgusted at the two girls Oiwa had almost forgotten about. The venom in her voice showed plainly how irked she was that they were both still in Oiwa’s presence.

“... What did you hear from Sebas before coming here? Did he not brief you?” There was no response from Albedo. “We are going to save this village. Our enemies are the ones in armor that look like these miscreants lying over there.” To this, Albedo indicated that she understood, and in response, Oiwa turned her focus towards the girls cowering behind her. They both tried to shrink even more, hiding as best they could from Oiwa’s unreserved gaze. Oiwa connected the dots that everything that had just happened was most likely what had them distraught. She thought to try and show them that she wasn’t the enemy by trying to heal the elder sister, who’s cut was still bleeding and making her back look like she’d survived a horror movie.

The children did not see it the way Oiwa did, and a wet patch appeared between the elder sister’s legs -- followed by the younger one. “... It appears that you are hurt.” As an adult, Oiwa had the ability to look past what had just happened, considering they were children. Pretending not to notice they had both soiled themselves, Oiwa reached into the void and pulled out her Infinity Haversack. It was a bag that could be assigned menu shortcuts and was a must-use in the game for people to store many of the items they used most often. One example was a potion, which Oiwa took out. 

In Yggdrasil’s terms, this Minor Red Potion was useless for Oiwa, as she was undead, and would receive the opposite effect if she used it, being poisoned instead of healed. To add insult to injury, it only healed 50 HP, making it only usable as an early-game item. *The* only reason she actually kept a sufficient stock of these items, were that they were common drops and a couple of her friends from the game weren’t undead so they could use them. 

“Please, drink this. I promise you it will help.” She stated, cooly and calmly, trying not to startle the children and treating them as she would a stray cat. She slowly extended her hand and held it out for the child. The elder sister grimaced but turned towards Oiwa.

“Sis!” The littlest one shrieked, trying to stop her sister, who had released her and turned to take the item. She looked on the verge of tears. 

‘What is the problem here?! In a manga we would all be tearfully hugging by now! Do I have to be good looking to get a good ending?’ These thoughts were cut short by a howling rage that had flared up behind her as Albedo raised her weapon and chided the children saying, “Lady Oiwa offered you a potion out of the kindness of her cold, dead heart, and you refuse?! You deserve to die 10,000 times! NO, 100,000 times!” It seemed she was deadset then to kill them both. Considering everything she had done to save them, Oiwa almost let her follow through with slaying them both but stopped Albedo just short of doing the deed. If Oiwa allowed that, this whole trip would have been a waste of time.

“Wait. There is an order to all things. Lower your weapon.”

“... Understood. I obey your word.” She replied in a velvety voice, still seething externally. This air of complete hostility that was emanating from Albedo was enough to cause the girls’ teeth to chatter violently -- enough so that even Oiwa could feel it.  
She tried to offer the potion again, knowing that she needed to move on from here to help with the raid that was still happening not too far from them. “This is not dangerous; it’s medicine that will heal you -- I promise you. Please, hurry and drink it so we can continue on to the village.” Her voice was as kind as she could make it, whilst trying to add inflection to it so as to assuage her that she’d die if she didn’t. As would the village. 

The girl took the potion hesitantly, then downing the whole thing in one big gulp. Then her face turned to one of confusion and surprise. “No way…” she murmured, touching her back. She swiveled around and gave herself a few light whacks as if she didn’t know what was going on and was in utter disbelief of what had happened. Her entire wound had stopped bleeding. Not only had it stopped bleeding, but it had also healed completely, almost instantly. ‘This is good to know.’  
“The pain is gone; right?”

“Y-Yes.” She nodded, still in shock.

Still needing to move on from this area, Oiwa proceeded with her next question. This one would be important, and how she continued depended entirely on the answer she was about to receive. “Do you know what magic is?”

“Y-Yes. There is a-an apothecary that c-comes sometimes. He is my friend. He can use m-magic.”

“Good. Then know that I can also use magic, as you have seen. I’m going to use some spells to protect you until the fighting is over.” She said, casting a barrier spell three meters wide, coupled with some other ones that would protect them from projectiles, lesser magic, and AOE spells. They should be okay as long as another caster didn’t show up. “I will also give you this.” She retrieved two shabby-looking horns from her rift and handed them to the elder sister. “These are items called Goblin General’s Horns. If you blow on them, little monsters called Goblins will appear and obey whatever you tell them to do. Use those to protect yourselves in case someone bad shows up.”

Having given them this explanation, Oiwa stood and turned to set off towards the village, accompanied by Albedo. Before they had taken a few steps, a voice rang out, calling to them. “Hey! T-Thank you for helping us.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Oiwa said, turning her head over her shoulder to look at the girls.

“Please save our parents! We have no one to ask but you.” Came the sincerest voice Oiwa had ever heard. She stopped and turned to face the girls again.

“I will try to. If they are still alive, I will save them.” Oiwa promised. Both of these exchanges caused the eldest sister’s eyes to widen immensely. She was stunned that both parties interacted so carefree. 

“T-Thank you! Thank you! Thank you so much! Um… can I ask…” She swallowed hard. “your name?” The elder sister was kind of like Mare in a way, acting on formality as if her life depended on it.

“My name is Ainz Ooal Gown. You would do well to remember it. It will be the name of the saviour of this village.”

~~~~~

When Oiwa had entered the village it was almost completely razed. Most buildings were alight and others were destroyed to rubble. A loud roar was heard, reverberating from the center of town, and a loud thud could be heard emanating. The Death Knight was hard at work doing as its master had commanded. The duo continued on, unfased by the chaos that surrounded them. A horn resounded through the town, causing Oiwa to pause momentarily and look back. Around them were scattered remains of the corpses of the knights who had been attacking a while ago. 

“Lady Ainz Ooal Gown.”

“When it is just us, please continue to call me Oiwa, Albedo. Ainz Ooal Gown is a pseudonym I want to use around the people of this world as another test to see if any of my friends are here. Surely if they hear it, they will come.”

“Understood, Lady Oiwa. Is this going to be the case for all members of the Great Tomb of Nazarick?” 

Oiwa turned her head and stared at Albedo. “Do you find anything wrong with me calling myself by that name, the name of my guild?”

“I think it is very befitting of the woman I love -- I mean, the woman who kept the Supreme Ones together and stayed to rule over us.”

“Originally, it was the name that stood for all 41 of us, including your creator Tabula Smaragdina. How does it make you feel that I will be leaving them out of it, and taking it for myself?”

“I realize that this might bring you displeasure, but… I will be so bold as to offer one humble thought. And if it does cause you the slightest displeasure, then please order me to kill myself for such an offense. However, with that having been said, I will say: If one of those who had abandoned us were to leave you, who stayed with us all this time, out of it and take the name, I surely would have felt it wrong. But since it is you, and the others’ whereabouts are currently unknown, what else could I feel but happiness and content with your decision?” Albedo bowed her head swiftly, but Oiwa did nothing but keep walking. Nothing after abandoned had registered.

All of his guildmates had left for a reason. This was a game after all, and not reality. So what was with this reaction, somewhere in her soul did Oiwa harbor some sort of ill will towards them? For “abandoning” her? “Albedo. Lift your head. I understand your thoughts. Until my friends come and tell me that they have a problem with it, I will use the name.” 

“Understood, sublime lady and my master. Nothing makes me happier than that the woman I love should call herself by that sacred name.”

‘“Love,” huh…’ Despite the dark thoughts she was currently harboring, she chose to avoid the issue altogether and continued. “Thank you.”

“Lady Oiwa, are you sure it is okay for me to be wasting your time like this? Of course, I am satisfied simply walking with you, but…”

“Well, it is true that we aren’t in any particular hurry, as the Death Knight seems to be doing his job quite well. However, I did come to save this village.” She knew already that the children’s’ parents were dead, and could assume that there was most likely a body count by this point, but she still felt no pressure to pick up the pace. She couldn’t distinguish human lives from insect lives anymore. 

“I would expect nothing less of an undead you created, Lady Oiwa. I marvel at its magnificent efficacy and efficiency.” It was true. For only a level 35 undead, it was more than holding its own against the knights. If such a weak summon was still fighting, it meant that the knights were laughable compared to Oiwa. In other words, they were not in danger.

“I wonder if it just happens to be that the knights who were attacking were just astoundingly weak. Anyhow, let us continue and check on the survivors.” But instead of continuing on, Oiwa stopped. She had to change how she was going to be perceived first. She turned off all secondary effects and debuffs on the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown and pulled a mask that would cover her face from the rift. 

It was called the Mask of Jealousy. It was inordinately ornate. The expression printed on the green face was hard to explain, but if she had to put it into words, she would say it looked like a mixed expression of both sadness and anger. If she had been told that the mask was one from Barog or Rangda from Bali, she would be forced to accept it and agree. She had obtained the cursed item from a time-related log-on during Christmas.

Next, she pulled out a pair of currant leather gloves -- similar in appearance to opera gloves -- that were bound in thick black rope. They looked like something an assassin would have worn, and not a caster, but they did the job they were supposed to. Now, none of her skin was showing. After settling that matter, and now self-assured that she wouldn’t be perceived as a villainous monster but instead an evil caster hopefully, she rounded the corner and saw a dead knight who was orans. “If you were going to pray to your god to save you, perhaps you shouldn’t have been slaughtering innocents.” Both Oiwa and Albedo cast Fly and ascended above the city to get a better look. ‘Death Knight. If there are any knights left, do not kill them. They could still be useful.’ Compliance came from the Death Knight mentally. 

Sensing where the Death Knight was currently, as well as the situation it was in, Oiwa flew over, landing softly on the grass a few paces behind it. The flight over to the Death Knight was brief, and Oiwa noted that so far in this world she was able to move with the spell much faster than she had been able to in Yggdrasil. In front of the Death Knight -- who was standing with perfect posture, as if he had just arrived -- stood four of the invading knights. They were barely standing and breathing heavily, looking as if they had martyred through Hell and barely returned; moving seemed liked such a burdensome task for them so it barely happened.

The knights, who were now despondent, stood stock-still and stared hopelessly at the pair who had landed behind the Death Knight. In truth, they had been holding out hope that a savior would come and help them, but the opposite had happened. This was soul-crushing and Oiwa reveled in it. “That’s enough Death Knight.” Came Oiwa’s nonchalant melancholy voice. She sounded as if she simply couldn’t care less of anything that was happening around her. Which was about how this situation registered for her. “Hello, gentlemen. A pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is Ainz Ooal Gown.” Non-surprisingly, there was no response, so Oiwa continued. “If you surrender, I will guarantee your lives. If you wish to fight however-”

A sword was tossed onto the ground. Following the first knight’s example, the other three threw down their weapons. None of the knights said a word and just continued to take slow, deep heavy breaths. “... Well, I know you all must be exhausted, but is not is customary to bow before the one who bested you in combat -- One who is, after all, the master of this Death Knight?” This caused the knights to instantly fall to one knee and hang their heads. It didn’t appear to have the elegance of one prostrating themselves before an idol but as one of a prisoner awaiting the gallows. “Yes, that’s much better. Very well, I am satisfied with that response and will allow you to return back from whence you came alive. But, since I am doing you a favor, you will have to reciprocate equally, as is the law of exchange. Your terms for living are that you will tell your owner and deliver a message.” 

Oiwa nonchalantly strolled over to the knights and standing before the foremost knight, she extended her hand and removed the knight’s helmet, lifting his head as well. When their eyes met, true horror overtook the knight’s face. He could feel the difference in level between the two even with no external factors being present. “The message you will deliver is as follows: Do not cause trouble here. If you do so again, I will bring death to your country.” She jerked the knight’s chin up, snapping his neck. The last of the knights trembled, all signs of fight instantly evaporated from their souls. They were so desperate to live it was laughable. “Now flee! And do not forget my message, or I will find you.” The knights practically fell over themselves as they scrambled to get away as fast as their bodies would allow and not wanting to be the closest to Oiwa.

After it was clear that the knights were a distant memory and had no intention of ever coming within the vicinity again, Oiwa turned to face the villager onlookers. Having been in this world for as long as she had, and with help from the psychological resiliency that stemmed from her old job, she had gotten the hang of acting as a terrifying ruler, but now she needed to switch roles from scary warrior to businesswoman -- so she would put on the facade of her old boss and take up his mantle. Oiwa sighed loudly and turned to walk towards the villagers. As she walked over she could tell that Albedo was only a step behind her as the clanking from her armor gave away her intentions of not leaving Oiwa’s side. ‘Death Knight, clean up this mess.’ Closing the distance evermore, the looks of horror and confusion on the villagers’ faces became clear.

The reason no one had voiced any complaints that Oiwa had freed the knights, was that an even more terrifying monster had appeared. Since Oiwa was so concerned with the knights, she had failed to take into account the point of view of the weak. She momentarily paused and strategized, then continued on, stopping at a safe distance from the crowd. In a relaxed and familiar tone, she addressed the crowd. “It is okay now. You are safe. I hope this allows some level of relaxation.”

“Wh-Who… are you?” Asked one of the bulkier men, seeming to present himself as the leader or representative of the village. He still hadn’t taken his eyes off of the Death Knight who was going about rounding up the bodies.

“I saw that this village was being attacked. I came to help you.” Murmurs of approval and relief went around the crowd. It was still clear that they were uneasy. She decided to change tactics. “Of course, however, I did not do this for free. As a merchant, I would like to be compensated for the number of lives I have saved.” This alleviated their skepticism a smidgen more, but a new look formed on their face: one that said they didn’t think that they would be able to oblige. This was one she was able to work with, as she had seen it many times before.

“In this state, I don’t-” But was silenced by Oiwa’s raised hand.

“Let us discuss this at a later time. On my way here, I saved a pair of sisters. I am going to retrieve them, but when I return we can talk about my compensation.” She wondered if Memory Manipulation magic would work as they had both seen her without her mask. She headed off towards where they were without waiting for the villager’s reply.

~~~~~

The village Headman’s house was just off the square. The house itself was quite impoverished, but it could be said that the whole village was. Inside the house, the floor was dirt. There were also many agricultural tools and plants strewn about, so Oiwa concluded that the village was based around just trying to sustain itself. The “house” was the size of a storeroom with a small kitchen attached to the side of it the size of a walk-in closet. Furniture had been pushed to the walls and in the center of the room sat a table and four chairs had been put around it -- two on each side. Currently, two persons sat at the table, Oiwa on one side and the Headman on the other. In the kitchen, the wife slaved over preparing food the guest, laboriously going to and fro to gather ingredients. 

Oiwa judged that science hadn’t developed as much in this world, but caught herself realizing that she was being superficial and that his world could depend on magic instead of science. While there were no lights within, just candles, Oiwa didn’t need to use her Night Vision as light poured in from the lattices in the door. She decided to put her hands on the table to mimic what her boss had done before a meeting, but when she did the shoddily made table creaked and groaned. Her chair also complained about this movement. ‘Do I weigh that much?’ 

Oiwa’s staff had been leaned against the door when they entered, and in the light, it sparkled like a diamond. This caused one main feeling to keep creeping through the girl’s head, and it was that she felt extremely out of place. This world was so outdated from what she had been expecting, so much so, that just seeing Oiwa had caused speechless amazement from the villagers everywhere she went. She also realized, that it was mostly what she was wearing and wielding, and less about herself in actuality. As compared to the garb that was the usual around the village, Oiwa was mythical in appearance. 

As they were now, Oiwa couldn’t force herself to relax, and she started formulating plans for how to handle the exchange that was about to go down. Oiwa’s aim was to gain knowledge, so if it were to present itself in conversation, she would cast aside the money that would be offered and instead try to buy more information from the Headman. A bout of realization had been struck when Oiwa thought that moving forward and interacting with other people in bigger places and higher authority would be tricky if she knew nothing of this world. It would also be quite dangerous as it could be used against her. However, in a village like this, it simply wouldn’t matter as she was leagues stronger than anyone here.

That being said, she knew where her position as an undead stood, judging by how the sisters had interacted with her earlier. Humans seemed to think her a reviled monster that was wrought with evil intent and hellbent on malice. In the future, she figured there would be fights over this, so she thought of ways to work around this happening. “Sorry to keep you waiting. We can begin now if it is okay with you.” Came the stern, elderly voice of the Headman. Oiwa took this time to look him over. 

Both he and his wife were tanned from working the fields -- as seemed commonplace in the village. They both also had deep wrinkles and were quite dirty with dirt caked all over them. They both had the potential to be quite above average, but toiling in the fields had removed that option long ago. He looked exhausted from the events of the day, and these made his age spots quite clear. He was balding so it could be assumed he was later on in life -- Oiwa thought him to be in his early 40’s or younger. His wife looked to be not that much younger. They both had deep black hair and cider colored eyes, making them look almost American Indian. It was hard to tell their ethnic classification, but based on the topology of where they lived as well as the climate, it seemed to fit the people. It wasn’t much, but it was something to go on. 

“Here you go.” Said the honey-voiced wife, placing a tattered cup before Oiwa. There were only two seats filled as Oiwa had sent Albedo off to check the village and to make sure they weren’t interrupted, and the wife seemed culturally obligated to not sit during the proceedings and went about doing miscellaneous tasks. Oiwa wasn’t going to drink the hot water, due to not being able to take off her mask, but it seemed to only be a pleasantry as the other party didn’t drink it either. This unsettled Oiwa as she had seen all the effort that the wife had gone to in order to make it. The wife had a kettle hanging from a stand by the firepit on the far corner of the room and had used it to fill their cups. It was weird to see an old kettle that wasn’t heated by electricity as well as such a lack of technology -- this would be something worth asking about as well, should it arise. 

“I’m sorry to have troubled you so in making me a drink that I have refused.” Oiwa earnestly said to the wife.

“It’s no trouble at all. There is no need to be worried about it.” Her voice was astoundingly soothing, and it almost made Oiwa feel like she meant the words she said. Both of them were visibly flustered at Oiwa’s politeness. They probably never imagined that the one who was commanding the Death Knight would have bowed to them, but for her, this was nothing strange as it was cultural to behave amicably to others -- especially ones that were being negotiated with. She could have used her magic, like Charm Person, to get the information she wanted, but felt like that wouldn’t be necessary and would waste potentially needed mana. She had already felt the results from using magic to overwrite the memories of the sisters earlier and was not going to use magic unless she had to or had recovered her mana back.

“Well, if that is the case, shall we skip the formalities and start negotiations?”

“Yes, we can do that, but before that… we wanted to thank you graciously.” The Headman bowed his head so aggressively that it was a surprise he didn’t smack his head on the table. Following her husband’s example, the wife followed and gave her thanks with a low bow. “If you had not come when you did, we would have all been killed. We are grateful.” The vestige of Kazuto Suzuki felt weirded out by the level of their gratuity, as she had never been thanked so by anyone back home, and here she had received such an ovation twice since being here.

“Please do not worry about it. Raise your heads. As I said earlier, I had helped expecting something in return.” The phrasing of this sentence was Oiwa trying to subtly say that this didn’t need to be about monetary compensation. It didn’t land with the opposing party.

“Even if that is the case, still allow us to thank you. It is thanks to you that so many of us were saved.”

“As the village’s Headman, you must be busy. Please, allow us to start, I would hate to take up any more of your time than necessary.” ‘Damn, get the point already.’

“There’s no one who deserves my time more than the one who saved our lives, but yes, if you insist, let’s begin.”

‘What a pain, I wonder how effective it will be to use my boss’ techniques when dealing with his clients; I have to get the information I require, and it would be so much simpler if I could just force him to spill either through violence or magic…’

When the Headman returned to his regular posture and settled in, Oiwa began. “To be blunt, what can you offer me for saving this village?”

“We have nothing to hide from you -- whom we are indebted to. I’d have to check to see how much silver and copper we can round up, but if I had to wager a guess, I would say in terms of copper we could gather around 3,000 pieces.” At least they weren’t offering cows. 

The monetary system of this world would be valuable knowledge to know if Oiwa was going to have to deal with humans or other creatures of this world, but she was unsure of how to go about finding this out. 3,000 pieces of copper seemed like a lot, but she knew not to accept the first price offered as it was usually a middle offer that was supposed to start negotiations. If she accepted this value, she might be undersold for her efforts and deemed “cheap” -- which she would avoid at all costs. “Carrying so much small change would be quite burdensome, is there a way to exchange the currency into other forms so I would not have to carry around so much?”

“My apologies, Ma’am, if I could I would pay you in gold pieces, but… unfortunately, we don’t really have any in this village. As I’m sure you’ve guessed, we aren’t the wealthiest village. So,...”

“Okay. How about this: I will use the currency you were going to give me to buy goods from you, but I will use my own gold pieces, and you can pay me with the coins I give you minus the value of the goods.” Oiwa pulled two golden coins from the rift and placed them on the table. They were golden drachmas from Ancient Greece that were a part of an expansion pack in Yggdrasil that had altered the textures of the normal currency, with the face of Alexander the Great on the front and a pegasus on the back. “If I were to use this in your village, what would be it’s worth?”

“Th-This is..?”

“A coin from a truly distant country. Can I not use it?” 

“I think you can… one moment, please.” The Headman proceeded to leave the room, and when he returned he had brought back an ancient device that Oiwa had only seen in history textbooks: a money changer’s scale. He placed it on the table, then stepped out of the way to make room for his wife. It had turned out that one of Oiwa’s coins was worth two of theirs. 

“So, what do you make of the relief printed on it? Do you think it gorgeous?”

“Quite. Where is it from again?”

“It’s an inheritance of a country that no longer exists.”

“Oh… I see.”

“As it happens, I have several of these coins in my possession, so I wonder what amount of goods you will be able to sell me. Please take your time in investigating this matter.”

“Ah, I see what you mean. But, I know that you don’t want to be seen as cheap and that for your compensation you’d like to reach a compromise, and that’s why you want material goods in addition to your 3,000 copper pieces, however, all we can offer to you at this time is the copper. We’ve lost a lot of workers and if we pay more than that we won’t make it through the next season. This goes for our goods as well, as now there will be fields that cannot be tended. I’m ashamed to ask this of you, but would you be willing to split everything with us?”

“I understand your predicament. In that case, I do not require compensation-”

“What?! Why not?!” The faces of both the Headman and his wife were in disbelief.

“I was about to explain. I am a caster and until recently, I was holed up in my home researching magic-”

“Aha, I see. So that’s why you’re dressed like that, huh?”

“Yes. As I was saying, I don’t require financial compensation, but instead, I will ask for knowledge, as that is a caster’s biggest tool at their disposal. That said, I’ve been holed up for quite some time, so much so that I have no knowledge of this area. I wish to acquire information from you, then to receive your promise that you will tell no one of what was discussed here. If this is okay with you, then I will call it even for saving your village.” Both gave vehement nods of consent. “Well then. I hope you can teach me many things.”


	5. None so deaf as those who will not hear.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> kimi wa guuru de ari, douji ni ningendemo arun da. futatsu no sekai ni ibasho o moteru tada hitori no sonzai nan da yo. -Yoshimura-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ** <\- this is a P.O.V. change. ALSO, I truly detest having to write from tertiary character's P.O.V's but I didn't want to include the fight just yet so... sux-2-suk. I'm thinking of pushing the fight to be a hard R/M rating, but we'll see. (Maybe have it be like a Wanted -- graphic novel, not the movie -- scene or a Requiem: Vampire Knight style fight.) Also-Also-Also, the title is from The Ancient Magus' Bride because it's my new Violet Evergarden-esque anime I've binged.

Chapter 5: None so deaf as those who will not hear.

After ascertaining this knowledge, Oiwa closed her notebook then placed it and the World Map she had been given into the rift. Her head was swimming. In the immediate area around her was the Re-Estize Kingdom, the Baharuth Empire, and the Slane Theocracy. The Re-Estize Kingdom and the Baharuth Empire were separated by the Azerlisia Mountains, and at the southern edge of said mountain range, was a forest. Where the forest ended started the Re-Estize Kingdom’s domain -- it contained the castle town and this village. There were poor relations between these two countries, and they’ve been feuding yearly for a long while. Going farther south, one reached the Slane Theocracy. If one wondered how they all fit together, and judging by the poorly made map, it was comparable to an English backward cursive ‘t’ which was capitalized and oddly disfigured. On the left side of the mountain was the Re-Estize Kingdom, on the right -- and bigger -- was the Baharuth Empire, and below the two was the Slane Theocracy.

There were many other supposed area’s, but that was beyond the scope of knowledge of the village. This was also true of knowing a countries’ relative power and reach. The final verdict of gaining this “knowledge” to Oiwa was expressed with a grand sigh. ‘I have seriously fucked up. This is nothing to go off of.’ Even if that was the case, she had gained something slightly insightful. The knights she had slew earlier were wearing Baharuth armor, but the Headman thought it to be a ploy made by the Slane Theocracy.

Oiwa also learned that in this world there were also monsters like in YGGDRASIL. Deep in the woods, there were dangerous beasts -- especially the “Wise King of the Forest”. But there were also sub-human species: goblins, orcs, ogres as well as demi-human races: elves and dwarves. There were also apparently kingdoms that had been created by both sub and demi-human alike. 

Spoken language, it turned out, was also not a problem, as, by the time the listener heard what was being said, it would have been translated. This wasn’t picked up by something the Headman had said, but by literally watching what the Headman was saying. His lips were not moving in a way that was representative of Japanese, but of some foreign dialect entirely. Oiwa wondered if this was also true of written language. It was possible, in retrospect, as this world had completely different laws of nature. The primary one was that it was run on magic. 

Apart from that, she also learned about the nearby fortress city of E-Rantel. According to the Headman, E-Rantel was the biggest city in the area, although he did not know exactly how large its population was. That seemed to be the best place to gather information currently. While the Chief’s words were semi-helpful, there were still many unclear details. Therefore, it would be better to send someone over there to find out, rather than ask the Chief questions. ‘Or to go yourself.’

Throughout the entirety of the conversation that had taken place, Oiwa’s thoughts were elsewhere. She contemplated the likelihood of other players being here, waring with other lands, and how to proceed from here. After a lull in information from the Headman Oiwa created her plan for the time being. ‘I need to have an extremely good reason for everything I do from now onwards in the case of not wanting any new -- and as few -- enemies as possible. I also need to buy as much goodwill through actions so as to stay in as many people’s graces and gain as much favor as possible.’ She would also need to visit a more developed area to see how the power level of the adventurers within the “Adventurer’s Guild” -- an actual job here where one would go on tasks to fight monsters -- stacked up against her own. It would also allow her to see how magic governed the world at large, as well as, how deeply it ran its ties into everyday society.

‘It would seem I will need to live in a city for a while.’ After an eternity, something happened to pull Oiwa back into reality: she heard footsteps approaching the flimsy, decrepit door. The sound of the footsteps outside in the dirt were large and heavy, so she assumed it to be a man who was not in a hurry. They were steady, plodding sounds of a grown man. As Oiwa turned to face the door, there came a series of three light knocks. 

The Headman looked to Oiwa for confirmation, not wanting to act on his own accord as he was still paying her back, and she nodded. “Go ahead. I was thinking of leaving anyways.” The Headman bowed in response and went to open the door. When it was opened, another shabby villager was standing at the doorway with the sun on his back. He looked from the Headman to Oiwa.

“I’m sorry to interrupt you when you’re talking with our guest. The funeral preparations are complete and we’re ready for the burial.”

“I see…” Came the retort from the Headman. He turned and once again asked with his eyes if it was really okay to leave.

“I really do not care what you do, as I said, I was about to leave anyway.”

“Okay, then, please tell everyone I will be there shortly.”

~~~~~

From atop a small cliff that overlooked the not-far-off village, Oiwa watched the mass funeral proceedings. They took place in the nearby communal cemetery on the outskirts of town. There weren’t gravestones to mark the dead, but instead, the poor impoverished town had used boulders with the names of the deceased etched into them. The Headman led the funeral and was actively reciting verses to gods that weren’t from YGGDRASIL -- in fact, she had never heard of them anywhere. He prayed for the departed to find peace, and for safe travels of the souls. 

At the vantage point that Oiwa was watching from, she could see the toll that the knights had taken on the village. The rampage had caused such a shortage of people to dig graves, so much so, that not even a third of the villagers were buried. This was just the first round of funerals to be held. To Oiwa, this practice of burying the dead on the day they departed seemed hasty and rude to the dead, but as there were no religions here that she would be practicing, perhaps in this world it was normal for people of this faith.

Watching on, Oiwa saw that the two sisters among the congregation, who had placid emotionless looks on their faces as if their parents’ deaths still hadn’t become real to them. Enri and Nemu Emmott’s parents were being buried that day. All the while of the funeral, Oiwa had her hand buried in her cloak -- she was fiddling with a long wand. The wand itself was made of ivory from an elephant’s tusk and the thicker end was plated in gold. The end that wasn’t embellished was covered in runes and radiated a holy aura. 

The Wand of Resurrection was an item that allowed Oiwa to raise the dead, and the reason she had pulled it out of the void, was that she had started mulling over the idea of using it to raise the fallen villagers. Earlier from her conversation with the Headman, she had asked of such magic, and the man replied that no such magic existed in this world that he knew of -- outside of miracles. Another thing that bothered her was the fact that she had multiple of the wands and could have very easily used the wands to recover what the village had lost with plenty to spare, but raising the dead would surely cause recognition that she wasn’t ready for yet. Her pause in thinking of how to proceed caused the Headman to end his prayer session and begin the last stage so she returned the wand to the void. She pawned off not helping as her not gaining anything from it, not due to any religious sentimentality over worrying about their souls or pissing off any gods that could exist -- which was a half-truth.

In YGGDRASIL, a magic caster could both bring death to many as well as ward it off, but it wasn’t hard to imagine which would shine a bigger spotlight on Oiwa. Even if she had spared the villagers of death, and had the village keep the mass-resurrection a secret, she knew that it wouldn’t be long before they went back on their word and the secret let out spreading far and wide. The power to resist death was something that everyone would yearn for, but she still stood by dormant, watching lives that she could have saved be thrown away for the sake of not wanting possible exposure. ‘With such little information currently, now is not the time. They will have to be satisfied knowing I saved the village.’

Returning her focus to the ending funeral, she saw that the sisters were bawling loudly and disgustingly. ‘It’s time to head back down.’ Oiwa thought, turning around, then stopping in her tracks. In front of her, a pace or so back, was the Death Knight. In YGGDRASIL, with very few exceptions, it was widely known that summons expired after a set time depending on the level of the summon, but here was the monster -- who’s timer should have long expired. She had guesses as to why this was, but each guess was rivaled by five or more questions to go against it. 

In the midst of turning around, two shadows fell in front of her due to the setting sun. Oiwa turned to see Albedo, as well as -- “An Eight-Edged Assassin?! Albedo, what the fuck?!” Oiwa’s head flew from side to side, scanning the area for anyone who had seen them approaching or gave any sign of having looked their way. Even in the midst of a funeral, surely the sight of Albedo and an especially bizarre monster that was spider-like and human-sized who was clad in ninja gear with knives for hands would have aroused the suspicion of someone. 

“I brought him here because he said he wanted to see you, my beloved.”

“How it fills my soul to see you! I do hope you are in good spirits, Lady Oiw-” This caused Oiwa to remember something so she quickly interjected.

“Spare me the flattery. More importantly, two things. Right now, turn invisible, next, answer my question. Are you a part of my support troops?”

“Yes, madam. There are presently four hundred vassals behind me who are ready to assault the village on your order.”

‘Assault?! Who in the hell told them that we were raiding anything?! Sebas must have given different orders. What a ridiculously bad game of telephone we are playing. What to do?’ “There will be no raid, as I have already resolved the issue with this village. Who is commanding you?”

“Mistress Aura and Master Mare. Master Demiurge and Mistress Shalltear have stayed behind to defend Nazarick and put it on alert, and Master Cocytus is guarding Nazarick’s perimeter.”

“I see… that will do. If there are too many of you, you will be in my way. Have all minions return to Nazarick except Aura and Mare. In addition -- wait -- how many of you came?” Oiwa said, pointing to the Eight-Edged Assassin.

“Fifteen of us in total, Lady Oiwa.”

“Hmm. You lot may stand by with Aura and Mare.”

After receiving a bow from the monster, Oiwa set off once again on the small path that led back down to the front of the village, followed closely by Albedo and the Death Knight. Along the way back down to the village, it came to Oiwa’s attention that Albedo was bristling -- despite the fact that she had no reason to be so on guard as there was no danger left in the village -- so Oiwa slowed her pace and lowed her voice, asking the only thing that seemed to be an explanation. “Albedo… do you hate humans?”

“I am not fond of them. They are such fragile creatures, and I think often if they would be pretty if I easily squashed them beneath my foot as they are seemingly lower life-forms. There is one exception, however, a girl.” Her honey voice didn’t match the cruelty of the words that came from her mouth, and Oiwa wondered if her outward goddess-like beauty compared to her soul, or if they were opposites: one pure white and the other corrupt blackness.

“I can understand where you are coming from Albedo, but I ask that you keep your composure around them and treat them as I do for the time being. I have told you that we must put on an act befitting of Ainz Ooal Gown.” This gave cause to a deep bow from Albedo, but Oiwa wondered if she truly understood these words. She knew that Oiwa was using the name of her guild to see if her friends were here, but could she read between the lines enough to know that they needed to be respectful when dealing with others as a way to bolster the reputation of the guild? While there wasn’t cause to worry at the moment, Oiwa was starting to question the future. She would need to take time to figure out what her subordinates’ likes and dislikes were. 

By the time Oiwa and her tag-alongs had made it to the dirt road that left from the village, Oiwa had spotted the Headman easily enough. He was conferring in the corner of the square with some of the villagers. Oiwa approached him as she wanted to be polite and say her good-byes before departing, but noticed a foreboding shift in the air as well as the seriousness of their faces. Mixed in with that emotion was another one, one Oiwa knew all too well, it was tension and fear. ‘Ask nothing, find nothing.’ “Has something happened?”

“Oh! Lady Oiwa!” he said, turning to face her. “We have received word that more knights are approaching the village on horseback.”

“I see.” The Headman looked at Oiwa with a pleading expression -- as did the other villagers present. Knowing what was coming next, she raised her hand to stop him from proceeding to ask the question and just accepted. “It’s fine, leave it to me. Assemble the remaining people in your house, then meet me back here in the square.”

After hearing this, the Headman sent one of the villagers off to raise the alarm. The alarm turned out to be a bell that rang out in the village. All the villagers ran out from their homes or wherever they currently were and the Headman ushered them into his house. Next, Oiwa ordered the Death Knight to stand guard outside the door and had Albedo position herself behind Oiwa. Oiwa turned and tried to comfort the Headman by cheerfully telling him not to worry and that just this once she would save him for free -- she also smiled, but due to the mask, this went unnoticed. This did little to assuage his fears, but he smiled bitterly. He also was trembling less severely. ‘Maybe he has prepared himself for this.’

Following the short conversation between Oiwa and the Headman, a squad of ten cavalry riders appeared on the central road leading towards the square. As they got closer they fell into a formation resembling a skein and proceeded into the square silently and slowly. 

“The gear that they are wearing isn’t uniform throughout. It is all custom garb… does that mean they are not a part of a regular cavalry?” As Oiwa finished speaking, she developed a foreboding feeling as she looked the knight’s equipment over. While the previous knights all bore the Empire’s emblem emblazoned on their chests and were in heavy armor, these new knight’s armor was fashioned to its wearer’s liking. Some had on leather armor pieces, some had removed iron plates and left their chain-mail exposed, some had helmets while others did not, but the only thing they all shared was that their faces were exposed. Another commonality was the sword they all had was the same make, but each had a different secondary weapon -- longbows, spears, and even maces. ‘Even if they are a rag-tag bunch of sellswords, they appear to all be veterans of combat.’

As they rode closer to the square, Oiwa realized her initial calculation of knights had been wrong, there were now fourteen knights approaching. Oiwa noticed a couple of the knights were focused on the Death Knight, but they all eventually fell into place and formed a magnificent row before her and the Headman. The one in the center, who appeared to be the leader, strode over with another one of the riders. The gap that had been made slowly filled itself as the riders who stayed back moved to reposition themselves. 

It was hard for Oiwa to describe the man who was now before her and the Headman. He had a strong, muscular physique and the posture he held himself in made him appear like he could get hit in the gut with steel and keep going as if it didn’t happen. He also didn’t look as old the Headman, but he was definitely older than Suzuki was -- thirty if she had to wager a guess. His hair was neatly trimmed and especially short on the sides and with his stone-edged face, he radiated a fierce sense of danger. The man’s gaze swept over the Headman and settled for a bit on the Death Knight, staring for a brief moment to confirm it wasn’t going to attack, then looked over at Albedo. He appeared to be stuck on her and stared for a long while. Finally, he must have gathered that she was just standing at attention, so he switched his sharp, perceptive sight to Oiwa.

The gaze he showed Oiwa made certain of his occupation as a man of violence, but Oiwa seemed to ignore him nonchalantly. Such a glance wasn’t going to even cause a ripple in the still lake of her undead heart. She wasn’t sure if it was her undead body keeping her in check, or the air of superiority she had from earlier -- gained by being able to use her YGGDRASIL abilities. 

Satisfied with his observations, he addressed Oiwa directly but still in a dignified manner. “I am the Re-Estize Kingdom’s Warrior, Captain Gazef Stronoff. I am here on orders from the king to repel knights from the Baharuth Empire who are raiding cities in this region. We have been patrolling the frontier villages as we followed them and have come here.” His voice was deeper than Oiwa had expected from his looks and listened as it reverberated throughout the square. From within the Headman’s house, a small commotion arose with idle adoration filling their voice.

“Captain of the Royal Select...” Murmured the Headman.

Oiwa leaned over and whispered from the corner of her mask into the Headman’s ear. “What sort of man is he?”

“From what I’ve heard from merchants, the position he commands is one obtained from winning the Royal Tournament and one who commands the most elite warriors and fighters, answering only to the King.”

“Oh? Is the man before us truly so amazing?”

“I couldn’t tell you. I know nothing of him outside of rumors and stories that we get told.”

Oiwa leaned in and squinted, observing that the group of knights did indeed have the Kingdom’s crest embroidered on their chests and that it was the same as the Headman had described earlier. But still, Oiwa had too little information to believe what she was told yet.

“You must be the village chief,” Gazef said, turning his line of sight towards the Headman. “If you would be so kind, please tell me who the person to the right of you is.”

Before he had the time to respond, Oiwa spoke first, not wanting to be introduced by someone else. “Pleasure to meet you. My name is Ainz Ooal Gown. I am the magic caster that saved this village when it came under attack by knights earlier.” Oiwa stated, giving a slight bow as to be ceremonious.

In reply, Gazef dismounted his horse heavily, his armor clanking loudly, and solemnly bowed in return. “I do not have words to express my gratitude to you for saving this village in place of us.” This act caused a ripple in the atmosphere. It must have been shocking in this world, where social standing was so black and white, to see a man with such a high standing in society showing such a show of respect to Oiwa -- who’s status was still unknown. She figured there weren’t human rights yet, and slavery was still a viable trade sanctioned by the Kingdom, so there was merit to this response.

“Think nothing of it. In actuality, I saved this village expecting reward, so no thanks is needed.” Despite the fact that they were not equals -- and Oiwa was female -- Gazef had gotten off his horse and bowed; this action spoke volumes of his character, and settled Oiwa’s apprehension as well as the question of him being who he claimed to be.

“Oh? Then you must be an adventurer.”

“Something of the sort.”

“I see. Your aura is quite strong. It is weird that I haven’t heard your name before.”

“I am not from these lands. I am on a journey, and just passing through, so it would make sense for you to not know of me.”

“On a journey? I feel bad taking your time, but what sort of people had attacked this village? I would like to hear about this in great detail.”

“I do not mind humoring you for a minute, but what of you ‘chief’?”

“No, I don’t mind either.”

“Then let’s hear it.”

“I robbed the invaders of their lives. But, in my opinion, they will not be back. Would you like to hear more?”

“‘Robbed them of their lives’ you say? This meaning you killed them yourself, Miss Gown?” From this, Oiwa was able to deduce that this world’s naming system was ‘name, surname’, not ‘surname, name’ as it was in Japan. Now it made sense why the Headman had given Oiwa a funny look when she had asked him to call her “Ainz” earlier.

“You could say that, although it wouldn’t be entirely true.” Gazef went deep into thought after hearing this, but then his gaze once again fell onto the Death Knight. He must have been able to smell the faint traces of blood as well.

“Okay, now there are two things I wish to ask you. One: What is that?”

“A subordinate that I created.”

“Hmm…” He looked Oiwa over with a keen gaze of adoration then continued, “And that mask?”

“Something having to do with my position as a magic caster. They are reasons you would not know of.”

“Can I get you to remove it for me?”

“I will have to refuse. That--” She pointed over to the Death Knight. “will rampage if I do, and it will be troublesome for me.”

The Headman’s face whitened in alarm as he knew the power of the Death Knight. And then Gazef heard the voices of the villagers inside the chief’s house, and sensing their aura’s change quickly, he nodded gravely. “I see. It would be best not to remove it then.”

“You are quite right.”

“Then--”

“Before that. I apologize, but the villagers were just attacked by knights from the Baharuth Empire, and so I think that the villagers will recall their fear from the fact that everyone here is carrying weapons. As such, I believe that it would return the peace if you would leave your weapons in the center of the village.”

“That is logical, however, these swords were bestowed upon us by our king. We cannot remove them unless it is the king’s express permission.”

“We will be fine, Lady Ainz.”

“Are you sure? Then I apologize for my rudeness.”

“No, Miss Gown, I believe that your logic in that thinking was correct. Had it not been given to me by the king, I would have happily put it down. Now then, let us take a seat and talk about this in more detail. Also, Chief, if you don’t mind, we’d like to rest here for the night as the sky is growing darker.”

“I understand. We can discuss that as well, so please come to my house-” The headman was then cut off mid-word when a lone cavalryman clamored through the square, flailing about as he got off his horse. His rough breathing foreshadowed the seriousness of the news he’d brought. He announced the emergency in haste, “Captain! Several figures spotted in the area! They’re surrounding the village and approaching!”

~~~~~

**  
“So that’s how it is. There are indeed people out there.” Gazef stated, peering out at the people surrounding the village from inside the darkened house. He could see three people within his field of vision. They were slowly advancing on the village while maintaining an even separation from each other. They were unarmed and were not wearing heavy armor. However, that did not mean that they were pushovers. Many magic casters disliked such equipment and preferred lighter gear. This suggested that they were magic casters. However, it was the winged monsters floating beside them which confirmed their vocations. They were Angels.

Angels were monsters summoned from another world, and many people — particularly, the citizens of the Slaine Theocracy — believed them to be messengers of the gods. However, the priests of the Kingdom ruled that these so-called angels were merely summoned monsters. While these religious disputes were part of the reason why the countries were set against each other, Gazef felt that their status as divine messengers was secondary to their strength as monsters.

To Gazef, angels and demons, their similarly-ranked counterparts, were stronger than many other monsters summoned using magic of a similar tier. Most of them had special abilities and some could even use magic. They were troublesome foes, in his reckoning. Of course, that depended on the individual angel. Not all of them were difficult to beat. However, the angels this time around, with their shining breastplates and flaming swords, were of a type that was unknown to him.  
**

Oiwa was watching them as well with Gazef situated to her side. She asked Gazef -- who did not know anything and could not gauge their strength -- “Who are these people and what do they want? I don’t think there should be anything that valuable in this village...”

“Miss Gown, you don’t know either? ...Well, if it’s not wealth they seek, then there can only be one other answer.”

Ainz and Gazef locked eyes. “They must really fucking hate you, Captain, to go to this length.”

“It comes with the job. However, here’s something that is troubling: judging by the way the other side has so many people who can summon angels, they must be from the Slaine Theocracy, and it’s clear that the people carrying out this operation must be a special operations unit -- probably the legendary Six Scriptures. It would seem that both in numbers and ability, the opposition is superior to us.” Gazef huffed and hung his shoulders, indicating the difficult position he was in. 

He might have seemed merely depressed on the surface, but inside, Oiwa could feel he was seething with anger and panic. “Well, they’ve certainly gone to a lot of trouble, using the Noble faction to strip me of my gear. However, it’s troublesome for that snake of a man to remain in the courts, so I guess it should be my good fortune to be able to recognize his villainy here. Still, I didn’t expect the Slaine Theocracy to have their eyes on me.” He snorted. Oiwa knew he did not have enough men, he was under-equipped for a battle like this, and he had no plan in mind. In short: he had nothing. 

“...Is that an Archangel Flame? It looks similar enough, but… what is a monster like that doing here… could it have been summoned by magic too? That means…” Oiwa had started strategizing her own plan and was throwing out incoherent babble as she worked through her plan. 

Gazef turned to look at the mumbling Oiwa, and with a hopeful look on his face, he asked: “Miss Gown, if it is all right with you, would you be willing to let me hire you?” There was no answer, but Gazef could feel the weight of Ainz’s gaze beneath the mask. “You may name your price and I will meet it.”

“No, I don’t think I will.”

“Even the loan of that knight you summoned would be fine.”

“...I must refuse that as well.”

“I see… then, what if I conscripted you, in accordance with the Kingdom’s laws?”

“That would be the worst decision you could make. I did not plan to make such a vile remark, but if you insist on using the authority of the Kingdom to conscript me, then I would be compelled to put up a bit of resistance and make you reconsider.”

The two of them stared wordlessly at each other, waiting for the other to buckle. The first to avert his eyes was Gazef. “...That would be frightening indeed. We would be wiped out before even crossing blades with the gentlemen of the Slaine Theocracy.”

“Wiped out… well, that’s a good joke. However, I am glad you understand me.”

Gazef narrowed his eyes and stared at Oiwa, who had bowed her head in thanks. She knew that he was thinking her words just now were not a joke, and he was right. Making an enemy of her would be a fatal error. In the face of this life-threatening danger, his instincts were more reliable than his meager intellect. As Gazef was lost in thought, he stared at Oiwa’s mask. 

“What’s wrong? Is there something on my mask?”

“Ah, no. I simply felt that your mask was very special. Since that mask is used to control that monster… then it must be a very powerful magic item… am I correct?"

“Well, about that… I should say that it’s a very rare and valuable item. One could even say that it was exclusive.”

Gazef paused again and looked to be mulling this over. Then Gazef’s face dropped a little. “...I see that it’s meaningless to keep going on about this. Then, Miss Gown, please take care of yourself. Once again, thank you for saving this village.” Gazef removed his metal gauntlet and shook Oiwa’s hand. Originally, she was thinking of following suit to return the courtesy, but in the end, she remembered her predicament and refrained. However, Gazef paid it no heed and gripped her hand tightly saying: “I am truly, truly grateful to you for protecting these innocent villagers from being slaughtered. Also… I know it is very selfish of me and I have no authority to make you do anything… but I hope you can protect the villagers here, just one more time. Right now, I have nothing to give you, but I hope that no matter what, you will heed my plea… I beg you.”

“About that…”

“If you should ever visit the Royal Capital, I will give you anything you desire. I swear this on the name of Gazef Stronoff.” Gazef let go of Oiwa’s hand, then proceeded to kneel, but Oiwa extended her hand to stop him.

“...There is no need to go that far… Very well, I shall protect the villagers. I swear that on the name of Ainz Ooal Gown.”

After hearing Oiwa swear on her name, Gazef breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you very much, Miss Gown. Now I have nothing more to worry about. All I need to do now is charge boldly ahead.”

“...Before that, please take this with you.” Oiwa took out an item from the void and handed it to the smiling Gazef. It was a small, strangely carved statuette. There did not seem to be anything special about it. However—  
“If it is a gift from your good self, I will gladly accept it. Time grows short, but I must now leave.”

“Would it not be more advantageous for you to wait until nightfall before setting out?”

“The opposition should have spells like [Darkvision] and the like, so night fighting is not to our advantage, but I cannot imagine they will be hampered by it. We also need to let you see how we stand or fall.”

“I see. As expected of the Kingdom’s Warrior-Captain, your keen insight is truly worthy of praise. Then, I wish you all the best, Captain Gazef.”

“And I wish you safety on your journey, Miss Gown.”

~~~~~

Oiwa quietly watched Gazef shrink into the distance as he rode off. “Hmm… when I first saw the humans here, I could not help but think of them as insects… but after speaking with them, I have come to be fond of them, like small animals.”

“Is that why you swore on your glorious name to protect them?”

“Perhaps. No, I should say that it was in response to how he bravely rode to his death...” Oiwa admired this quite a lot. She admired Gazef’s determination, his strength of will that she was not certain she had. “...Albedo, order the servants to search out the ambushers around us and knock them out once they are found.”

“I will do so at once… Lady Ainz, the Village Chief and the others are here.” As Oiwa turned to look at Albedo, wondering why she called her that, she caught sight of the Chief and two other villagers coming over. When they reached her side, they were panting heavily. Filled with tension and unease, the Headman spoke immediately, as though breathing were a luxury he could not afford.

“Lady Ainz, what should we do? Why did the Warrior-Captain leave us behind and not protect us?” The Headman’s words were filled with fear, but there was an undercurrent of anger there as well.

“...He is doing what he must do. The foe has their eye on the Captain, and if he stayed here, the village would become a battlefield. The enemy will not let you flee either. He left this place for your sake.”

“I see, so that was why the Warrior-Captain left… Then, then should we remain here?”

“Of course not. They will come to kill you after they are done with him. As long as you remain within their encirclement, you will have nowhere to run. However… while the foe is dealing with the Captain, you will have a chance to flee. You should take it.”

The Headman red-facedly lowered his head as he heard about the Warrior-Captain’s slim chances. The man was riding to his death just to give them a chance to flee. He cursed his inability to understand the man’s sacrifice, and how he mistook Gazef’s courage for selfishness and maligned him for it under his breath. “I can’t believe I jumped to conclusions and wrongly blamed a good man… then, Lady Ainz, what should we do now?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“We live near the forest, but there’s no guarantee that we won’t be attacked by monsters. We were just lucky and thought that this place was safe, so we gave no thought to self-defense, and in the end, not only did we lose our friends and loved ones, but even became a burden…” Now it was not just the Chief, but the villagers behind him who had looks of regret on their faces.

“That could not be helped either. Your attackers were professional soldiers. If you had tried to resist, you might have all been dead before I got here.” Oiwa was trying to comfort the villagers, but none of them looked comforted at all. The fact was that no matter what pretty words she gave them, the loss of the villagers was an undeniable tragedy. All they could hope for was for time to heal their wounds. “There is no more time. You must move quickly so as not to waste the Captain’s determination.”

“I see… then, Lady Ainz, what will you do?”

“...I will stay here and observe the situation, and then wait for a good time to escort you all away.”

“We are always making trouble for you, Lady Ainz, really, we-”

“Think nothing of it. Because I made a promise to the Captain… never-you-mind, in any case, gather all the villagers into one of the larger houses. I will further protect it with magic.”

~~~~~

There was no trace of the intense battle that had taken place on the plains. The light of the setting sun covered up the blood staining the grass, and the stench of blood was blown away by the howling wind. There were now two figures on the plains who had not originally been there.

Nigun of the Slaine Theocracy’s special operations unit — the Sunlight Scripture — looked at them with perturbation in his eyes. One of them was dressed like an arcane magic caster. She wore an evil-looking mask to hide her face and a pair of leather gloves on her hands. She wore an expensive-looking black robe, suggesting she was a person of some status.

The other one was dressed in a suit of jet-black full plate armor. It looked very impressive, and it was certainly some sort of masterwork magic item. One look at the exterior was enough to tell that it was a high-end magic item.

The beleaguered Gazef and his men were gone without a trace. In their place were these two mysterious individuals. It seemed to be some kind of teleportation magic, but he had no idea what kind of spell had been used here. He knew deep in his heart he had to be wary of the mysterious magic caster.

Nigun recalled the angels, ordering them to form a defensive perimeter on their side. His assiduous gaze studied their movements, and then the magic caster stepped forward “Pleased to meet you, gentlemen of the Slaine Theocracy. I am Ainz Ooal Gown. I would be glad if you could call me Ainz.” She was some distance away from them, but the wind carried her voice over to them clearly. Nigun did not respond, and thus the mysterious woman called Ainz continued: “The person behind me is called Albedo. I would like to make a deal with you. Might I have a moment of your time?”

Nigun tried to attach some meaning to the name Ainz Ooal Gown, but it was no use. It might be an alias. Perhaps trying to glean some information from her would be more productive. With that, Nigun raised his chin, indicating that Ainz should continue.  
“Wonderful. I’m glad you chose to listen to me. Then, I would like to start by making one thing clear to you gentlemen: there is no way you can defeat me.” He could hear the absolute confidence in that statement. This was not a bluff or a boast. This was something that the woman Ainz Ooal Gown believed from the bottom of her heart. Nigun furrowed his brows, as, in the Slaine Theocracy, nobody would dare speak in such a way to their betters.

“Ignorance is truly deplorable. You will pay the price for your foolishness.”

“...Really now. Do you really think that will happen? I observed your battle earlier, so my presence here would indicate that I am confident of victory. After all, if I was not sure that I could beat you, would it not be wiser for me to leave that man to die?”

She was right. An arcane magic caster would be better suited to different kinds of confrontations. Arcaners, sorcerers, and wizards could only use light armor, so they would want to avoid melee combat, using [Fly] to repeatedly launch fireballs and other such spells from afar. Yet Ainz had chosen to face them head-on so she must have had a trick up her sleeve.

After a period of silence, Ainz spoke again, saying, “I have a question for you. If you can understand what I am telling you that is. The angels you have brought with you should have been summoned by third-tier magic. Am I correct?” She was stating the obvious, but it fell upon ignorant ears.

Ainz went on, ignoring Nigun’s puzzled expression: “The monsters you summoned are similar to those in YGGDRASIL, so I was curious as to whether the names were the same. Many of YGGDRASIL’s monsters were derived from mythology… monsters like angels or demons should be no exception. Said angels and demons are most commonly associated with Christianity, but it seems quite unnatural that something called an archangel exists in a world without Christianity. That would mean someone like myself must exist in this world.”

Nigun had no idea what Ainz was talking about and his ire was rising. “That’s enough of your self-absorbed prattle. Now tell me; where is Stronoff?” He spat.

“I teleported him to the village.”

“...What?” Nigun had not expected Ainz to answer. He thought of why Ainz would say that and replied, “How foolish. Even if you tell a lie like that, a quick search of the village will—”

“—It is not a lie. I merely answered your question. Well, there is another reason why I answered your question.”

“...Could it be that you want to beg for mercy? If you help us save some time, I might consider it.”

“No… well… the truth is, I overheard your conversation with the Warrior-Captain... and what a lot of balls you have.” Oiwa’s tone changed suddenly growing darker and more sinister. She continued speaking as she looked at the mocking Nigun. “To think you would dare say that you would massacre the villagers that I, Ainz Ooal Gown, took the time to personally rescue. I cannot think of anything that is more offensive than that.” Ainz’s robe rippled in the wind. That same wind blew across Nigun and company. The cold wind just happened to be blowing from Ainz’s direction, but Nigun hurriedly brushed away the phantom image that loomed in front of him. Yes, that vision of death before him, it must have been an illusion.

“...What, what do you mean by "offensive", magic caster? What of it?” Although he was obviously frightened, Nigun did not change his mocking tone. He was the commander of one of the Slaine Theocracy’s secret weapons, the Sunlight Scripture. How could he be afraid of a single woman’s name? It was impossible. It could not be possible. Yet—

“I mentioned a deal earlier. These are the terms of that deal. You will hand your lives over to me without resistance. In exchange, you will not have to suffer. However, if you put up a fight, then the price you fools shall pay is to die in despair filled with drawn-out agony.” Ainz took a step forward. It was just a single step, but Ainz’s body seemed to swell massively before their eyes. Cowed by her, the men of the Sunlight Scripture reflexively took a step back.

“Ah!” Several hoarse cries came from around Nigun. They were cries of fear, as her presence was filled with unimaginable power. This was the first time Nigun had been faced with such might. Therefore, he could understand his men’s fear. Nigun was a powerful individual himself, a veteran of many battles who had grazed the edge of death countless times, who had taken many lives. He could literally feel the might radiating from the mysterious magic caster, an oppressive, potent pressure. It must have been worse for his men. ‘What kind of being is she? What was the true identity of this magic caster? Who was the woman beneath the mask?’ 

Once more, Ainz ignored Nigun’s panic and spoke coldly. “That is why I did not lie to you and answered your question honestly. It is because there is no point in lying to those that are about to die.”

Ainz spread her arms and took another step forward. She looked like she was about to hug them, but her evil-looking fingers reminded them of a lunging monster. A cold shiver ran from the bottoms of Nigun’s feet to the top of his head. He had felt this countless times in his struggles along the edge of life and death. It was a sign of impending doom. “Have the angels charge him! Don’t let him get close!”


	6. Chapter 6 - Decimation of the Angels

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Let's go home."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LET ME GO HOMEEEEEEEE! This took way too long and I am wayyyy too stressed.

Chapter 6 - Decimation of the Angels

Nigun’s voice broke slightly as he shouted his orders. It sounded more like a hoarse shriek, than an order barked by a seasoned commander. It was not an order to raise his men’s morale, as Oiwa would have thought to do, but it was just a response to true terror. This amused her, and she granted the man to have the opening attack as a respect to him before she shattered his dreams of living to see tomorrow.

Oiwa prepared as two Archangel Flames flapped their wings in response to Nigun’s command, launching themselves in an attack at her. The angels flew straight up to Oiwa, and plunged their flaming swords into her body, piercing the false flesh she had with a wet squelching sound. 

Oiwa had previously ordered Albedo to stand by and defy their knowledge of combat to throw them off guard as well as to show a glimmer of her power. She knew that the woman who was standing behind her should have blocked that attack and would have done so easily. She also surmised that all of the Sunlight Scripture, who should be predicting that course of action, would not believe such an action as the caster’s guard simply standing there motionless. It played out before her just as she thought it would.

Their shock from the scene that had just transpired morphed into a mockery in response to the lack of action from their foe. It must have seemed that Oiwa’s act, pretending to be some mighty figure, was nothing but a bluff. In reality, though, this was all planned. She heard his men breath sighs of relief. Nigun, who now looked quite confident, turned to Albedo. “How unsightly. To think she would try to scare us with such a ridiculous bluff.” He let out a chortle, then paused and turned to his company. “What are you doing? Call back the angels. She can’t fall with those swords stuck in her!”

“But-But we’ve already given the order!” 

At the moment it took for the angels to reach Oiwa, she had extended her hands out and grabbed them. The angels were now desperately flapping their wings, like butterflies caught in a spider’s web. She paused briefly, then resituated them to her side so she could see the fear she was inducing. “I told you, didn’t I? There is no way you gentlemen can defeat me. Shouldn’t you heed the warnings of others?” The calm, icy voice filtered into Nigun’s ears. She was stabbed through her chest and abdomen, but remained standing, as though nothing were wrong.

“Impossible…” one of Nigun’s subordinates moaned, giving voice to the words none dared say. “Impossible.” It came again. Oiwa saw that someone was muttering to themselves in shock. 

Oiwa recalled that, in YGGDRSDIL, Angels summoned from magic had bodies created from their summoners’ mana, making them quite heavy. They weighed more than a stoutly grown man, and then there was the weight of their armor to consider as well. That said, there would usually be no way a regular being could have lifted up the angels by the throat as easily as she was now. ‘Granted, a well-trained warrior, with a stout and muscular body, might be able to do it.’ Oiwa, however, was a magic caster who focused on training her intellect and arcane powers over honing her physique. Even if one were to enhance their body with magic, they would not be able to do anything if their base strength was low to begin with; however, this was not the case for Oiwa.

“Why is this happening? Why does she seem completely unfazed, even after being impaled?... There must be some sort of trick.”

“Ah, definitely, how could anyone be fine after being run through by a sword!?” Panic and fear spread through the Slaine Theocracy’s special forces unit. This was a sight they had never seen before. The doubtful mutterings about how she did not seem to be in pain and was speaking normally meant that she had done her original intention: to cause a riff. She also remembered an old saying: “Dead men tell no tales.” so she told them what had happened.

“High Tier Physical Nullification -- a passive skill that negates the attacks of weapons with low data content and low tier monsters’ attacks. It only protects against attacks of up to level sixty -- in other words, attacks above level sixty can harm me. It is an all-or-nothing ability… to think it would actually see use here. Well then… these angels are in the way.” Holding an angel in each hand, Oiwa slammed them both into the ground. There was a thunderous crash, and the earth trembled from the impact -- a testament to her supernatural strength -- she mused internally. The angels died instantly, reverting to countless dancing motes of light that vanished into the air. Of course, the swords stuck in her vanished as well. “If I learn how you named these angels, I can then understand how you can all use spells from YGGDRASIL. But let us leave this aside for now.”

Oiwa slowly straightened -- still talking aloud about things which nobody seemed to understand. However, this only intensified the Sunlight Scripture’s fear of her mysterious power. Nigun gulped and she decided to continue. “All right, we’ll end these pointless games here. Are you satisfied? Since it looks like you aren’t willing to accept the deal, then it shall be my turn.” Oiwa opened her hands and held them out, preparing to cast her next spell. Her voice carried clearly through the bone-chilling silence, into the ears of everyone present. “Are you ready? It’ll be a massacre.” She then released her aura out and let it be carried over to the other side of the field.

“All angels, attack! Hurry!” Shouted the terrified commander, making one last-ditch effort to be rid of Oiwa. Every one of the Archangel Flames shot toward Oiwa like bullets.

“What a lively lot. Albedo, step back.” Oiwa commanded calmly, still not seeing a reason to care. In an instant, she was surrounded by so many angels that it was hard to see much else aside from white. When they were close enough that it looked like she would be impaled by countless blades, she activated her next spell. “[Negative Burst].”

The air shuddered. A wave of black radiance erupted from Oiwa, like the negative image of a camera flash. It only lasted for an instant, but it had an immediate and obvious effect.

“Im-Impossible…” Someone muttered those words, carried by the wind, all the way over to her ears. They could not believe what was happening before their eyes. The angels, over forty of them, had been annihilated by the black wave in one fell swoop. Oiwa had not used [Dispel Magic] to neutralize the summons -- as was expected -- but instead used a powerful spell to wipe the angels from existence.

“What, what the hell!?”

“It’s a monster!”

Once they realized their angels were useless, they wailed and fell back upon the spells that they knew and trusted.

“[Charm Person]”

“[Iron Hammer of Righteousness]”

“[Hold]”

“[Fire Rain]”

“[Emerald Sarcophagus]”

“[Holy Ray]”

“[Shockwave]”

“[Confusion]”

“[Charge of Stalagmite]”

“[Open Wounds]”

“[Poison]”

“[Fear]”

“[Word of Curse]”

“[Blindness]” 

All kinds of spells rained down on Oiwa, yet, even as the storm of magic lashed against her, she remained unmoved. Her hunger for more world knowledge overpowered her so she continued her dialogue. “Well, all of these are familiar spells... who taught them to you? The Slaine Theocracy? Someone else? There are more and more things I want to ask you now.”

“Aaah!” One of the men screamed wildly as he saw that his spells were ineffective. In desperation, he pulled out a sling and loaded it with an iron ball. Although Oiwa doubted the effectiveness of such a projectile when even an angel’s sword was useless, she did not stop the man. The bullet that could easily shatter bone sped toward Oiwa. It was followed by a sound. That sound was like an explosion.

It had happened in an instant. Albedo -- who had been behind — had moved in a mysterious way in front of Oiwa to defend her. The source of the apparent explosion was because she had violently kicked off the ground to get to where she was. With a speed that the human eye could not even see, Albedo swung her bardiche, tracing a beautiful curve of the weapon’s sickly green light in the air. After that, the man with the sling slowly collapsed to the ground.

“...Huh?” Nobody on opposition looked to know what had happened. They were the ones who had launched the attack, yet the result was completely opposite; one of them had fallen instead. One of the men went over to inspect his dead comrade, and he shouted: “His, his head’s been smashed in!”

“What? Smashed… don’t tell me it’s the sling bullet he threw!”

“My apologies, It would seem my subordinate used a combination of the [Missile Parry] and [Counter Arrow] skills to return your projectile to your man. I believe you have some sort of magic that defends against ranged attacks on your persons. That would mean an attack that is stronger than the defense will break through it, no? It’s hardly worth panicking about.” After her explanation, Oiwa paid no attention to Nigun, and turned to Albedo. “Although, Albedo, you should know that ranged weapons like that will not be able to harm me. There was no need to--”

“Please wait, Lady Ainz. Anyone who wishes to do battle with a Supreme Being must have a certain degree of strength. A sling bullet like that was nothing more than an insult to you!”

“Haha, so, that means Nigun and his lackeys fail the test, then?” Oiwa retorted, cackling.

“Hmph! Principality of Observation! Get him!” In response to Nigun’s orders, the angel that had been standing by up till now suddenly spread its wings and flapped, propelling itself forward. The Principality of Observation was an angel in full body armor. It held a mace in one hand and a round shield in the other. A garment that looked like a long skirt covered its legs.

The Principality of Observation was stronger than the Archangel Flames, she could tell, so the fact that Nigun had ordered it to attack was a sign that he was grasping at straws. He had to clutch at anything which might turn out to be a lifeline, even if it ended up being chaff.

“Fall back, Albedo.” As ordered, the angel drew up in front of Oiwa and raised its shining mace. She nonchalantly reached out her left hand to meet the attack. While it would not have been surprising for that strike to shatter bone, her hand was fine. She casually took the subsequent hits as they came. “Good grief. I guess it’s my turn now. [Hell Flame].”

A small, wobbling mote of flame emerged from the index finger of Oiwa’s right hand. It looked so feeble that anyone could blow it out if they wanted. It touched the body of the Principality of Observation and looked terribly laughable against the glittering body of the angel. The Principality of Observation was consumed by a black fire, so intense that even Nigun, a good distance away, could feel the heat. To Oiwa’s undead eyes, no one on the commander’s side could keep their eyes open -- even from such a length -- due to the tremendous light and heat instantly drying their eyes out. The angel’s body melted and vanished amidst the sky-scorching black flames, without so much as the chance to resist. The flames that devoured the angel vanished with their target. No traces were left behind.

“How, how could this be.”

“In just one hit…”

“Im-Im-Impossible!” Nigun shouted amidst his confusion. He did not even seem to know he was shouting. He was simply converting his thoughts into words. “It can’t be! It’s impossible! Nobody can defeat a high tier angel with just one spell! What kind of woman are you, Ainz Ooal Gown!? It’s impossible that nobody’s heard of you before! What is your real name!?” There was no trace of serenity left in Nigun, just his wild screaming in the hope of denying reality. This disgusted Oiwa thoroughly.

She spread her hands once more, and under the light of the setting sun, they looked like they were drenched in blood. “Why do you think it is impossible? Is that not just the result of your ignorance? Or do you mean to say that this is all you know of the world? There is only one thing I can do to answer your question.” Silenced reigned in the air as they awaited the answer. Oiwa’s voice was as clear as a bell. “My name is Ainz Ooal Gown. That is definitely not an alias.”

“Cap-Captain, what, what should we do...?”

“Figure it out yourself! I’m not your mother!”

The sun was slowly falling below the horizon, and darkness threatened to swallow the world. To anyone else, it would have felt like Death itself was opening its maw to devour everything. In response, Nigun, trying to force his fear back, gave an order. “Protect me! Protect me if you want to live!” Nigun brought the crystal out in his trembling hand. His subordinates, usually vigorous and nimble, were chained down by fear and their movements were slow. Even these fearless men would hesitate when ordered to become a shield against a monster like the one which stood before them. However, he had to have them buy him some time, no matter what. “I am going to summon an angel of the highest order, hurry up and buy me some time!”

Once they realized the truth, his subordinates moved swiftly. Oiwa, who was facing them, noticed the flames of hope blazing up, and made no move, relented to her curiosity, and instead babbled about nonsense to herself aloud, awaiting what would happen next. “...Could that be a spell-sealing crystal… and from its brilliance, it should be something that can seal anything except a super tier spell. So they have a YGGDRASIL item like that as well… that being the case, what kind of angel can they summon… Seraph class? Albedo, protect me with your skill. While I don’t think they can bring out a Seraph Aesphere, if they manage to summon a Seraph Empyrean, we will have to fight them seriously. Or rather… could it be a monster unique to this world?”

While Oiwa held her ground, Nigun ritually broke the crystal in his hand, and a brilliant radiance spilled forth. A hidden sun seemed to have risen upon the land, dying the grass a blinding white. A dull fragrance filtered into everyone’s noses. The legendary angel descended upon the earth, and Nigun exulted: “Behold! The glorious visage of the highest angel! Dominion Authority!”

It was a mass of many shining wings, and among them were a pair of arms that held a scepter, symbolizing royal authority, but neither its head nor legs were visible. Though it looked quite disturbing, anyone could tell this was a sacred being. At the moment it appeared, the surrounding air turned bright and clear. The advent of this supreme incarnation of goodness drew wild cheers from everyone who saw it. The blood of Nigun’s men boiled with excitement.

In the face of their jubilance, Oiwa barely managed to get a sentence out. “This. This is it? This is what you call getting serious? This is your ace in the hole that you were planning to use on me?” 

As he saw Oiwa’s response, Nigun, who had been extremely uneasy, breathed a sigh of relief. In fact, his heart was filled with joy as he replied: “Indeed! Your fear is only natural. After all, this is what an angel of the highest order looks like. While using it here seems like a bit of a waste, I have determined that you are worthy of it!”

“How could this be…” Oiwa slowly raised her hand and covered her face. To Nigun, it looked like a gesture of despair, but that was hardly the case.

“Ainz Ooal Gown. The truth is, you deserve respect for forcing me to summon this most exalted of angels. Be proud of your fearsome strength, magic caster!” Nigun nodded deeply then continued on, “Personally speaking, I would like to bring you into our fold. If you are truly that powerful… however, I am not allowed to do so on this mission. At the very least, I shall remember you -- the magic caster who made me decide to summon this mighty angel.”

However, the response to Nigun’s praise was a cold voice. “Really… this is ridiculous.”

“What?”

“I can’t believe I was on guard against such child’s play… my apologies, Albedo. I made you use your skill for nothing.”

“Please, do not say that, Lady Ainz. We did not know what manner of monster they might have called forth, so it was prudent to reduce the chances of injury.”

“Is that so? No, you’re right. It’s just that I did not expect this to be all. It was quite unexpected.”

“How can you act like that in front of the angel of the highest order!?” Nigun shouted. He could not believe that Oiwa and Albedo were chatting leisurely and completely ignoring Dominion Authority. “No! Impossible! It cannot be! Nobody can be stronger than the highest-placed of the angels! This is a being that can defeat a Demon God! In the face of a foe that humanity cannot beat -- it’s a bluff! It must be a bluff!” It would seem Nigun could no longer control his emotions. “Use it! Use [Holy Smite]!”

“I get it, I get it. Hurry up and make your move. I won’t do anything. That should satisfy you, right?” However, Oiwa’s relaxed attitude -- which was like a pedestrian letting another person walk past them -- filled Nigun with fear.

In response to its summoner’s wish to use its most powerful attack, Dominion Authority shattered its scepter. The fragments rose up into the air and slowly orbited its body.

“I see. So this is a once-per-summoning special skill that it uses to augment its spell power. It would seem this Dominion is about the same as the one in YGGDRASIL…”

The spell was cast, and a pillar of light broke through the sky. With a loud whoosh, a seemingly endless cascade of holy blue-white radiance flooded down from the heavens, submerging Oiwa, who simply raised one arm to shade her eyes. When the light-show finished, she was still there. She was not blasted into glowing ash, sprawled on the ground, or pulverized into meat jelly, but was still standing nonchalantly, and even laughing. “Ha! As expected of magic that has an extra effect on those of evil alignment… so this is what taking damage feels like… pain, is it? I see, I see! Still, even though I feel pain, my mind is clear, and my ability to act is not affected at all.” The pillar of light vanished. It had not had any effect.

“Wonderful, I’ve concluded another experiment.” Her voice sounded indifferent… no, it would be more accurate to say that she was satisfied. Nigun and his company thought that way, and the smiles on their faces froze. However, one person was filled with anger.

“You, you inferior lifeforms!” Albedo’s shout ripped through the air. “You inferior lifeforms! How, how dare you do such a thing to my beloved lady, Ainz!? You pieces of trash, how dare you cause pain to the woman I love, my master, Ainz!? Do not think that I will allow you to die so easily! I will have you taste the greatest suffering this world has to offer until you go mad from agony! I will melt off your limbs with acid, cut off your genitals, and feed them to you as mincemeat! Then I will heal you and do it again! Aaah! I hate you! I hate you, I hate you, I hate you so much that my heart is going to burst—” Her arms, clawing at her head and sheathed in black armor, were writhing.

It felt like the world was distorting, with her at the center. A wave of world-twisting, courage-sapping malice smashed into the company like a hurricane. Something seemed to be crawling under that black armor, as if there was an enormous creature that was about to break through the plates and reveal itself. Nigun knew this was happening, but there was nothing he could do but stand there and watch the emergence of a monster that would pollute the world. Only one person in this world could rein her in. 

Oiwa raised her hand and quietly said: “That’s enough Albedo.” Those words were enough to stop Albedo in her tracks.

“...But, but Lady Ainz, these inferior lifeforms--”

“It’s fine; Albedo everything has gone according to my predictions, aside from the weakness of the angels. What else is there to be angry about?”

As Albedo heard this, she raised a hand to her breast and bowed in acknowledgment. “...As expected of my beloved, your insight is truly fitting of the title "fathomless." I am in awe.”

“No, no, no, the truth is, I’m quite glad that you would be worried and angry for me. However… your charming smile is far more preferable.”

“Hu! Char-Charming!?” *cough* “Thank you, Lady Ainz.”

“Now then, I’m sorry you had to wait for so long.”

Nigun, who was stunned by their easy-going back and forth, finally managed to recover enough of his senses to shout: “I know it! I know your true identities! Demon Gods! You must be Demon Gods.”

Oiwa recalled some of the histories she had learned earlier. The kings of the mighty draconic races -- the Dragon Lords. The legendary monster who could destroy an entire country -- Landfall. And one more -- the Demon Gods. She had heard that the Thirteen Heroes had defeated and sealed away the Demon Gods. 

“One more time! Use [Holy Smite]!” However, Ainz would not permit a second attack. 

“Now, it’s my turn. Know despair. [Black Hole].” A small point appeared on Dominion Authority’s shining body. It slowly enlarged into a yawning black void. The black hole swallowed everything. It was so underwhelming that it made them stare in dumbfounded silence. It might even be laughable. 

As the radiance of Dominion Authority vanished, the light drained from the surroundings. There was only the sound of the wind blowing across the plains. And then a hoarse cry broke the silence. “Who… are you people?” Nigun asked them again. “I have never heard the name of a magic caster called Ainz Ooal Gown before! No, there can’t be someone who could destroy the highest-ranked angel in one blow! Someone like that should not exist!” Nigun shook his head powerlessly. “All I know is that you are far beyond a Demon God… this is unbelievable… who exactly are you?”

“It is as I said earlier, I am Ainz Ooal Gown. In the past, there was nobody who did not tremble at this name. Well, I guess we’ve spent enough time on idle chatter. Going on would only be pointless. Also, just so we don’t waste each other’s time, there is an anti-teleport effect surrounding me, and my subordinates are waiting in ambush. You have nowhere to run.” The sunset completed, and darkness swallowed the land.

As confusion washed over Nigun, Ainz answered. “Good grief. You know, you should be thanking me. It would seem someone was using divination magic to keep an eye on you, but because I was in the spell’s effective range, my anti-scrying offensive barrier activated, and you were not observed. Really, if I had known, I would have linked a higher tier attack spell to it.”

Those words filled Nigun’s eyes with realization. The Slaine Theocracy must have been spying on him.

“A widened [Explosion] might not be enough to teach them how to behave… oh well, things being as they are, playtime is over.” A wave of cold ran through Nigun as he picked up the hidden meaning in those words. He was on the verge of tears.

“Wait, wait a bit! Miss Ainz Ooal Gown, no, Lady! Please wait, we, no, I wish to make a deal with you! I guarantee you will not be disappointed! As long as you spare me, I will give you any amount of money you want!” He could see his shocked subordinates out of the corner of his eye, but they were no longer relevant to him. The thing that mattered now was his own life. Everything else was of secondary importance. It was a nauseating sight for Oiwa.

Ignoring the countless angry voices of his men, Nigun continued. “It must be difficult to satisfy the tastes of such a great magic caster as yourself, but I will definitely prepare enough money to please you! I have a position of some power in my country, so they will definitely pay any price to ransom me! Of course, if you desire anything else, I will do my best to meet your wishes! So I beg you! Please spare my life!” Nigun panted as he finished his monologue. “What, what about it? Lady Ainz Ooal Gown!”

A delicate, gentle woman’s voice responded to Nigun’s desperate plea. “Did you not reject the compassionate offer of the Supreme One, Lady Ainz, earlier?”

“That is!”

“...I know what you want to say. You wanted to beg for your life because accepting his proposition would also mean your death. Am I correct?” The black-helmeted head shook, as though it was tired of talking. “You seem to have gotten the wrong idea. Since Lady Ainz, who holds the power of life and death in Nazarick, has already stated her will, inferior lifeforms like you humans should lower your heads and gratefully await the taking of your lives.”

Albedo’s forceful words were backed by an adamant resolve. She’s was mad. This woman is insanely mad. Nigun, who realized this, looked hopefully to Oiwa. Oiwa had been quietly listening to them. When she realized that Nigun was waiting for her decision, she shook his head in exasperation and said, “Indeed… it is as she says. Cease your pointless struggles and lie down quietly. As a final act of mercy, I will kill you without drawing out your suffering.”

~~~~~

As she walked along the night-veiled plains, Oiwa raised her head. What greeted her was the beautiful sight of stars in the sky. She sighed at the scenery for the second time, and then headed back to the village. She had gone a little overboard.

As long as Albedo was by her side, she could not afford to appear useless to her. As her master, she needed to act in a fitting manner in front of her subordinates -- this one in particular though. While she might have gone a bit too far, it still fit the role she was playing as an Overlord. While she did not know if she had passed or failed, she knew it would be fine so long as Albedo was not disappointed.

Oiwa could not see Albedo’s expression, and since she could not tell what Albedo was thinking, she went over the day’s proceedings once more.

“Still, Lady Oiwa, why did you save Gazef?”

“This was a problem we caused, so shouldn’t we try and settle it ourselves?”

“Then why did you give him that item?”

“I was laying the foundation for future plans. Letting him hold it would be a good thing for me.”

While it was true that she had given Gazef a cash item from YGGDRASIL, she had a great many of them. Although she could not replenish her stock of them, giving one away was not a great loss. In actuality, she was actually happy to have less of those items.

That was because those were consolation prizes from the 500 yen gacha draws, which reminded Oiwa of how profligate she had been with her spending and poor lifestyle then. In addition, while she had spent countless 500 yen coins on finally getting the ultra-rare item that was the top prize, her former comrade Yamaiko had gotten it on the first try. The impact of that incident cast an indelible shadow in Oiwa’s heart. She had wanted to throw those consolation prizes away, but when she thought of the 500 yen it had cost… she could not bear to wastefully dispose of it.

“Well, it doesn’t matter who ends up with that item in the end, or if it ends up being used or not. It’s no loss to me.”

“Would it not have been best to let me take care of things? There was no need to trouble you to personally aid those inferior lifeforms. Surrounding them was hardly a difficult task, which is the only reason why I submit you did not need to personally take the field.”

“Is that so…” Without a device to measure power levels, that was all Ainz could say in response. In YGGDRASIL, one could determine the strength of an enemy by the color of their names. Beyond that, one could only rely on information from one’s friends and walkthrough sites.

Still, there was no point worrying about what he did not have. Oiwa decided to think of something else. “...I know your strength, Albedo, and I trust you. However, I would like you to discard such shallow thinking and remember that an enemy who is stronger than myself could appear at any time. This is especially true given that we do not quite understand this world… so I hoped Gazef could do our work for us.”

“I see! So you used him as a pawn to feel out the enemy’s strength. It is quite fitting to use inferior lifeforms like humans in that way.” Although the closed helm revealed none of her emotions, her freshly-flowered joy was obvious in her voice.

Oiwa had once been a human being, and now was an undead. Now, she was growing ever-more aware that Albedo hated humans very much. However, it did not upset her or make her feel depressed nor anxious. Rather, she felt that such thoughts were quite suitable for the inhuman Guardian Overseer of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick.

“...Indeed. However, that is not all. Since we saved him at the brink of death, he will be even more grateful to us. In addition, since the enemy was a special forces unit, the country’s higher-ups will not investigate the matter too openly. That was why I stepped in.”

“Ah, as expected of my beloved, so that was why you took the commander and the others alive. Marvelously done!” She could not help but feel giddy when she heard Albedo’s praise. After all, she had managed to put together a sensible, coherent plan in a short period of time; perhaps this stemmed from her leadership talent at work. Just then, Albedo’s cheerful voice entered Oiwa’s self-satisfied ears. “...Still, was it necessary to take the angels’ swords with your precious body?”

“Is that how it looked to you? When we first came to Carne Village, we used the knights on the outskirts to verify that my High Tier Physical Nullification was still working normally.”

“Indeed, you are correct. I verified it with my own eyes as well. However, I did not wish my eyes to helplessly watch the swords of those despicable angels piercing your body, my beloved.”

“I see. Though you were my shield, I did not take your feelings into consideration. You have my—”

“—And even if I knew you would emerge unscathed, which woman would want to see the woman she loves being stabbed by swords?”

“...Ah. Yes.” Oiwa did not know how to answer, so she stayed quiet as she continued to the village. Albedo did not seem to want to press the matter and followed quietly.

~~~~~

Once they reached the village, the villagers, led by the Death Knight, came out to meet them. They lavished praise and thanks onto them, and Oiwa saw Gazef among the villagers. “Oh, Gazef! I’m glad you’re all right. I should have gone to your side earlier, but the item I gave you took some time to work, which was why I was almost too late. My apologies.”

“What are you saying? It is I who should thank you, Miss Gown. After all, you saved me -- speaking of which, where did those fellows go?”

Since Gazef had changed his tone somewhat, Oiwa decided to nonchalantly inspect him. Gazef had taken off his armor and carried no weapons with him. He was bruised all over and half his face was swollen up, like a strange-looking, misshapen ball. Yet, a fire burned within his eyes. Oiwa turned away, as though she had seen something brilliant. Her eyes reflexively went to the ring Gazef wore on his left ring finger.

‘So he was married. It’s probably good that his wife won’t need to shed tears for him.’ As he thought about that, Oiwa decided to carefully put on an act, saying: “Oh, I chased them off. I couldn’t take care of all of them, as I thought.”

That was a lie, of course. They had all been shipped back to the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick. Gazef narrowed his eyes a little, but neither of them spoke. The air between them grew tense.

In the end, Gazef broke the silence. “Truly amazing. I do not know how I can repay you for your help, Miss Gown. Please, look for me when you come to the Royal Capital. I will welcome you with open arms.”

“Is that so… then, I will have to impose on you when the time comes.”

“Lady Gown, I do not know what plans you have, but would you be willing to travel with us? We will be staying in this village for a while.”

“Is that so? Well, I was planning to move on, though I have not decided on my destination yet.”

“Still, it’s already so late, traveling now would be--” Gazef cut himself off halfway. “Forgive me, there was no need to worry about a mighty being like yourself. Then, please seek me out when you reach the capital. My doors will always be open to you. In addition, I am deeply grateful to you for your gift of a full set of equipment from the knights who attacked the village.”

Oiwa nodded, then decided that she had taken care of everything she needed to do in this village. There had been more things to do here than she had expected, and she had spent more time here than she had planned for. “Let’s go home, Albedo.” She said in a voice low enough that only Albedo could here. Albedo immediately turned around joyfully in response, still wearing her full plate armor.


End file.
